Grant Birchall will miss the remainder of the season, with the premiership defender to have surgery on his injured knee this week.

Birchall sustained a PCL injury in Round 7, which sidelined him for six weeks. He returned for two strong performances in Round 14 and 15, before experiencing similar irritation in his knee joint.

“Birch’s knee has been sore,” said Elite Performance Manager Andrew Russell.

“We’ve taken the load out of his training and it’s continued to be sore, so we’ve decided to do a PCL reconstruction later this week.”

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