This means the Warrington Wolves forward may not be available for selection for every game, but decisions will be taken week-to-week.

Although he had no issues getting through training last week, he withdrew from the game against Leigh during the warm-up and James Bentley took his place on the bench instead.

Head coach Sam Burgess has decided to leave him out of the reckoning for Saturday’s Super League Round 21 game at Castleford Tigers.

“He’s had a grumbly knee for a little while and it’s probably got too inflamed,” said Burgess.

“He’s got a further appointment. We might see him (playing) next week.

“Considering there’s only eight or nine weeks left to the end of the season, it’s something we’re capable of managing and something we’ll probably take care of in the off-season.

“We’ll pencil in games where we can try and get him on the field and he’ll be able to do a job.”

Tanginoa would have been looking forward to facing Cas having scored four tries against them when The Wire came out on top 72-6 during their meeting at The Halliwell Jones Stadium in March.

“I think he’d have enjoyed to try and play again (this Saturday) and probably could have played at a push,” said Burgess.

“He did all the training last week, completed every session so there was just a bit of a flare-up in warm-up and he didn’t want to let the team down so I appreciate his honesty.

“Kelepi knows himself quite well. He’s a good pro, he’s got an appointment and we’ll be able to map out the next eight-and-a-half weeks until the end of the year.

“We’ll get a good plan in place and once we know the plan we can stick to that. If inside the plan he’s feeling better at times, we might push it harder. If he’s worse, then we’ll just pull back a little.

“He’s on board with the plan over the next couple of months.”

Rugby league players put their bodies through extreme levels of strain to complete matches.

“They’re pretty courageous men, it’s a really tough sport,” said Burgess.

“They get in the cycle of competing and love doing that, so sometimes you have to make decisions for them to try and look after them.

“You have to protect them from themselves at times. I guess that’s the case with Kelepi.”