Nov 26th, 2017

Nov 26th, 2017

There are fears that England hooker Josh Hodgson will require a knee reconstruction and miss the early rounds of the 2018 season.

One of the key men in the Raiders’ line-up, Hodgson injured the knee early in England's 20-18 semi-final win over Tonga last Saturday.

The full extent of the injury won’t be known until tests later today but WWOS has learned that the England camp is concerned that Hodgson may have torn his ACL.

The injury will also put Hodgson out of next Saturday's World Cup final against Australia in Brisbane.

"I'm not sure what's going on there," England coach Wayne Bennett said after the match.

Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson is in doubt for the start of the NRL season after injuring his knee playing for England at the World Cup. (AAP)

"I don't think he'll be right to play next week. You don't normally limp off like that and play next week."

Ironically, the Raiders have been trying to shed Hodgson’s under-study, Kurt Baptiste, in recent weeks, due to salary cap problems.

But if the injury to Hodgson is as bad as feared, Baptiste will remain in the lime green in 2018.

Hodgson could miss as much as half of the new season if he undergoes the knife in coming days.