St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor has revealed just how much rookie half Drew Hutchinson’s season-ending injury hurt the head coach.

With Benji Marshall exiting for Brisbane, the young playmaker had been earmarked as a long term replacement and had been training at number seven before the ACL injury to his knee.

“I was really hurt by it,” McGregor said.

“The first week or two post Drew’s injury I was just shattered for Drew more than anything else.

“My head wasn’t in a space for worrying about who was going to replace him, I was more seeing how his well-being was.”

McGregor concedes that the injury won’t help Hutchinson ahead of contract negotiations.

“That’s where it hurts a lot,” McGregor said.

“He knew that he had a good window to go out there and perform on a big stage.

“I know how much he wanted that opportunity and how much work he had done to put himself in a position for it.”