GIANTS coach Nathan Brown says he had little choice but to agree to Shaun Lunt undergoing season-ending groin surgery.
The 24-year-old England hooker has already had an operation to repair the damage which was revealed on a scan.
Brown had initially hoped Lunt would be able to play through the pain, particularly with fellow hookers David Faiumu currently sidelined with rib damage and Keal Carlile also out for the year following heart surgery.
But with the scans showing how much damage there was, Brown was more than happy for the operation to take place as soon as possible.
"Lunty has been training and playing with a fair bit of discomfort, which has really forced the issue," said Brown.
"He obviously had a slight problem with the injury earlier in the year, but we were forced to push him along a bit because Luke Robinson missed the start of the year and Keal managed just one game for us.
"But the outcome of that was that the injury was really affecting his performance and ability to train, so the surgery just had to get done."
The injury meant Lunt missed Sunday’s 40-12 triumph over Crusaders as the Giants warmed up for Friday’s top-of-the-table Super League XVI clash at leaders Warrington Wolves.
But now ruled out for the trip to the Halliwell Jones Stadium is in-form prop Darrell Griffin, who is being given a week off to recover from a couple of knocks.
He is set to be replaced by second-row forward Lee Gilmour, who was suffering from illness at the weekend, as Brown looks to re-shuffle his pack.
Changes in the backs could be kept to a minimum, with in-form winger David Hodgson, whose move to Widnes is expected to be confirmed shortly, looking to build on last week’s hat trick.
