Wallabies rising star Jordan Petaia ruled out of Super Rugby season

Queensland Reds and Wallabies young gun Jordan Petaia has once again suffered a major injury setback, with scans revealing the 19-year-old will miss the rest of the Super Rugby season and possibly a handful of Tests due to a dislocated shoulder.

One of Australian rugby's brightest stars is set to go through more agonising rehabilitation after an injury at training last week in Buenos Aires that the Reds say will keep him out of action for roughly 20 weeks.

Petaia, who debuted for the Wallabies at last year's Rugby World Cup and announced himself on the world stage with a number of sparkling performances, will be devastated by the latest setback.

Club officials found out on Wednesday and Petaia's teammates and coaches are said to be shattered by the news.

The utility back flew home from South America last week and scans have confirmed he will need surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

The Super Rugby regular season runs for another 15 weeks, before finals, while Australia's first Test of the year, against Ireland in Brisbane, takes place in just over 19 weeks on July 4.

It will be touch and go as to whether Petaia can retain his gold jersey. Without any football under his belt and a concerning injury history, one would expect Petaia to be slowly reintroduced later in the year ahead of a big international season.

Petaia, who has started at outside-centre for the Reds in rounds one and two, played just two Super Rugby matches last year before a foot injury spelled the end of his season.

He came within a whisker of making his Test debut on the 2018 spring tour in Italy but a hamstring injury 48 hours before kick-off saw him miss the opportunity.

The Reds have lost their first three matches of the season and host the Sunwolves in their first home game of the season on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium.