GRAPHIC WARNING: Manly's Joel Thompson suffers gruesome cut tongue against Knights

WARNING: This article contains graphic content.

Manly veteran Joel Thompson suffered a gruesome cut to his tongue during his side's loss to the Knights on Sunday.

The Sea Eagles, who were fighting to keep their premiership hopes alive, went down in a thriller 26-24 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Nursing a four-point lead for much of the second half, Newcastle eventually cracked Manly's defence when Enari Tuala scored in the 72nd minute after two disallowed tries.

Unfortunately for the Sea Eagles, they were hit by some brutal injury news after the match.

Coach Des Hasler revealed stand-in fullback Brendan Elliot, who had been covering for the injured Tom Trbojevic, suffered a suspected ACL during the first half.

While the news for Thompson wasn't too bright after teammate Curtis Sironen took to Instagram to reveal the extent of his second-rower's split tongue.

Sironen said on his Instagram story: "He's tough the old bush goat."

Once the photo started trending on Twitter, Thompson replied: "Just save my teeth, that's all I care about."