IT is difficult to imagine how Kevin Brown is feeling right now.

In the space of a weekend, he has gone from fine tuning his preparations for a new campaign to being told his season is over due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

READ > How we broke the news of Brown's injury

He had accepted that this was going to be his final season in primrose and blue – so now he must come to terms with the fact he is likely to never wear the Warrington shirt again.

Brown is a strong character, but this will undoubtedly hit him hard.

While thoughts will now undoubtedly turn to how The Wire will now solve this most unexpected of conundrums, our first consideration must be with him.

I am sure I speak for all Wire fans in wishing Kev the safest and speediest of recoveries. Hopefully this is an injury he can come back from – whether that is for Wolves or elsewhere.

He will be 35 at the end of 2019, out of contract and having just recovered from a serious injury. As much as he will aim to bounce back, it may be that this tips the balance in terms of deciding enough is enough.

We must also consider the impact this will have on the rest of the squad with the new season so close.

Brown is one of the key leaders in the dressing room and an incredibly popular character.

Nobody could blame the players for feeling down after seeing one of their teammates struck down in such a way, but it could also have a galvanising effect.

Do not be surprised if there is a “let’s do it for Kev” attitude within the squad.

What they cannot afford to do, however, is let the news stew. Time is of the essence.

This will not have caught them completely off guard as they have practiced with several different half-back partnerships throughout pre-season.

If it is to be Dec Patton’s time to step up, it will not be like he and Blake Austin will be complete strangers to each other.

In the immediate short term at least, Patton taking Brown’s place may seem the most plausible option.

On the face of it, this is the chance the homegrown youngster has been waiting for. It is up to him to take it.

Moving Stefan Ratchford from full-back to the halves has also been mooted, with Jake Mamo taking the number one shirt.

That certainly has its positives and would bring a lot more speed to the Wire attack, but it may also cause the greatest amount of disruption.

Everything has been so carefully planned, so Steve Price may not want to change things too drastically just yet.

Of course, the other option is to find a new half-back.

Should they ask for it, a salary cap exemption should be granted to pursue that option – as it was to Castleford when Luke Gale was struck down by a similar injury earlier this month.

The difficulty with that would be finding a half-back of sufficient quality who is available this close to the season.

Another strand to that potential deal would be finding a player who is happy to come to Warrington in the knowledge that it would only be a short-term arrangement given Gareth Widdop’s arrival for next season.

Whatever route the club chooses to go down, this is not a situation they would have wanted to be in on the eve of the new season.