Widnes Vikings youngster Keanan Brand will undergo surgery on Wednesday after suffering a double leg break just six minutes into his Betfred Super League debut.
Brand, who turned 19 in January, broke both his tibia and fibula in a freak accident during the Vikings’ 31-12 defeat at Hull KR on Saturday.
Widnes coach Denis Betts said: “It’s quite a bad break. He has an operation to have his leg plated tomorrow.
“You feel for the kid, six minutes into his debut. It was just a freak accident, poor kid.”
The Ormskirk-born Brand began playing rugby league with the Wigan St Patricks junior club before joining the Widnes scholarship programme at the age of 14. He represented England academy against France last October.
State of Mind would like to wish Keanan a speedy recovery