Unlucky Penrith captain Peter Wallace’s latest season-ending injury won’t prematurely bring an end to his NRL career, according to Panthers five-eighth Jamie Soward.

Scans on Monday confirmed Wallace’s season is over after tearing his ACL for the second time in as many seasons.

It is the third time in 12 months the 29-year-old will have had surgery on his troublesome right knee, having had a cartilage cleanout earlier this year that forced him to miss six matches.

But Soward was confident his teammate’s latest setback wouldn’t force him into early retirement.

“He’ll come back, he’ll come back for sure,” Soward said on Tuesday.