Manu still has three metal plates in the right side of his face from the infamous collision that ended his and Latrell Mitchell’s 2021 season, and knew instantly his right cheekbone was fractured the moment it happened.

“I was stunned and felt it,” Manu said. “I felt the indent because it was pretty pushed in.

“Once I felt it I knew straight away, it felt the same and my ears were ringing. I just walked off the the field and just said to the coaches ‘looks like it’s broken’.

“I sat down and after an hour or two I knew it wasn’t as bad, I was watching the boys train and I didn’t take any painkillers.”

The Roosters on Wednesday announced Hyundai as a back-of-jersey sponsor for the next three years, making the tricolours’ 2023 playing kit the most valuable in the club’s history. Speaking at the announcement, captain James Tedesco said there was no timeline on Crichton’s return to the game as he lauded the Australian and NSW representative’s importance to the Roosters pack.

Loading

“We’ve just been supporting him, he’s going through some things at the moment, we can’t really go into detail but we’re supporting him and hopefully he can be back at training,” Tedesco said.

“He’s an important part of our team, he was one of the best back-rowers in the game last year. We miss him and we want him out there playing with us, he’s a big part of our team.”

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.