Woo ruptured his patella tendon early on in the loss to Cootamundra on Sunday.

The 28-year-old underwent surgery this week and will be forced to watch on from the sidelines.

It was a shattering start to the season for the second rower.

“It’s a bit disappointing being the first game of the year and we had a big pre-season,” Woo said.

“That is just the way it goes and I’ve had a pretty good run with injury.

“It is just one of those things.”

Woo is looking at a recovery time between six to 12 months, but there is confidence he will be back to his barnstorming best next season.

“The surgeon is confident I will make a full recovery after the operation,” he said.

Rhys Smart has been named to take his place in the grand final rematch against Southcity at Anzac Park on Sunday.

Woo may not be the only big-name Tiger missing with coach James Smart in doubt due to a back complaint.

His troublesome back flared up in the loss to the Bulldogs and he’s not sure whether he will take his place at fullback.

“I’m not sure yet,” Smart said. “I’ll have a run (Friday) afternoon and see how I feel after that.”

Gundagai went down 24-18 to start the season.

Smart believes poor ball security cost them and it is what needs to improve taking on the Bulls.

“I thought our effort was there but when you can’t hold onto the football you are not going to win games,” he said. “It is something that we addressed after reflecting on last year’s grand final that we simply didn’t hold onto the football enough to give ourselves a chance to win the game.

“It was the same story last weekend.

“Our completion rate in the first half was poor and then our completion rate in the second half was below 40 per cent.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that from us before which was pretty disappointing. Sometimes you have those days and we have to make sure we turn up on Sunday and not have a repeat of that.”