NRL: Vatuvei out for season with shoulder injury

NZ Warriors Manu Vatuvei. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Warriors wing Manu Vatuvei will next week undergo a season ending shoulder operation after which he will face a five month recovery period.

The injury means he will miss the Kiwis end of year three test tour of England in November, along with fellow Warrior and Kiwis halfback Shaun Johnson, who is also out for the season after fracturing his ankle last month.

Vatuvei injured his right shoulder late in the June 27 clash against Canberra and was unavailable for the Warriors matches against Melbourne, the Sydney Roosters and Manly.

The 29-year-old try-scoring record holder returned to action against Cronulla on August 1 but was forced from the field when he re-injured the shoulder 60 minutes into the Warriors' encounter with St George Illawarra in Wellington on August 8.

Vatuvei's 12th NRL campaign has ended prematurely with 11 tries in 16 appearances, the fewest games he has played in a season since his second year in the competition in 2005 when he featured in 12 games.

With three games to go, he remains top equal with centre Solomone Kata on the club's try-scoring list this season.

During the year Vatuvei achieved two more major milestones; topping Nigel Vagana's record for the most tries by a New Zealander in the NRL - he now has 146 tries - and becoming the first player in the competition's history to score 10 tries or more in 10 consecutive seasons.

While Vatuvei is out for the season, second-rower Bodene Thompson has been cleared from the ankle injury which forced him to miss the Warriors' last three games.

Thompson will start from the bench in Saturday's final home game of the season against the North Queensland Cowboys, as the Warriors look to snap a five game losing streak.