Newcastle’s NRL titles hopes might have taken a hammer blow with key duo Andrew McCullough and Connor Watson suffering suspected season-ending injuries.

McCullough appeared to hurt his hamstring in the first half of Sunday’s clash with Canterbury during an attempted tackle on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

The versatile Connor Watson was also chaired off soon after with what looked like a torn achilles, going down untouched after trying to chase from marker.

The potential season-ending injuries might be fatal to the Knights’ premiership chances, having already lost first-choice No.9 Jayden Brailey to an ACL injury.

Rookie rake Chris Randall will come into calculations immediately for a recall for the rest of the season for the Knights, who are sixth on the ladder.