DAVID ARMSTRONG has damaged three of the four major ligaments in his knee as he begins a rehabilitation process that will continue well into next year.

Leigh Leopards’ star Aussie fullback is expected to be out for nine months with the injury suffered in their round-16 Super League defeat at Leeds Rhinos.

“There’s a little bit going on with that knee,” said Leigh coach Adrian Lam.

“There’s damage to the posterior cruciate, the anterior cruciate and the medial (cruciate) and cartilage have all been damaged in some way.

“It’s probably an eight- or nine-month recovery from the time he’s done it to the time he’ll return. If it goes well, hopefully he will be back for the early rounds of the 2026 season.”

Lam admitted in the weeks leading up to the Leeds game that Armstrong was playing with several injuries, having struggled with issues for much of the season.

“It was one of those injuries where we tried to manage it through to the end of the season,” explained the coach.

“You can do that at times. It’s very difficult to not pick a player when he’s nominated for player of the month.

“We make sure we keep (in mind) his welfare and best interest, but he was scoring 60- or 70-metre tries.

“His mental toughness and resilience has been awesome all the way through this. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, the way he’s carried himself, playing through a bit of pain.”

Players being fielded with physical problems is considered pretty common in Super League and Lam said of making such decisions: “It’s pretty simple, really. You’ve got to work with the player, he knows himself better than anyone. Davy was always wanting to play.

“We’re going to miss Davy, he’s a big part of this club, he’s only young and he’s got everything we want in a player as an athlete and a great guy.

“Now we’ve got to put our energy into Bailey Hodgson and get him right in that position to finish off the season.”

Hodgson, the 22-year-old who joined Leigh last July from New South Wales Cup side Blacktown Workers, is set to retain the fullback jersey with Lam saying a replacement signing for Armstrong is unlikely.

“We’ve got Bailey Hodgson and Gaz O’Brien who can play fullback, as can Darnell McIntosh and Keanan Brand,” he added.

“We’ve got great cover there. Bailey got player of the match (last week against Wigan Warriors) and could have scored two tries. Josh Charnley came in and had one of his best games of the year.

“We’re blessed with having outside backs (in reserve) as classy as the starting players.”