Newcastle Knights prop Pauli Pauli was injured in a serious seven-car pile-up on the M1 Pacific Motorway north of Sydney overnight, according to a report.
The 22-year-old has been admitted to Gosford Hospital suffering a suspected dislocated hip and broken leg following the crash at Cowan just before 10pm on Wednesday, the Seven Network is reporting.
Pauli, who made his debut for the Newcastle Knights at the start of the 2016 NRL season, was believed to be driving one of the vehicles involved in the crash on the north-bound lanes of the motorway, just south of the Hawkesbury River Bridge.
Emergency services arrived at the crash scene to find seven wrecked cars scattered across the road and 10 people injured. Of those injured, eight people were adults and two were children.
The motorway was closed for three hours while emergency services treated the injured, and cleared the wreckage from the road.
The most seriously injured patient, a 66-year-old man, suffered chest and head injuries and was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition. He underwent surgery and his condition had improved to stable on Thursday morning, police said.
The two children were not seriously injured, police said, and were taken to hospital as a precaution.
Pauli made his debut for the Newcastle Knights at the start of the 2016 NRL season, and played 15 matches for the club in both the front and back row. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, as well as the NSW under-20s and the Australian schoolboys side.
The Newcastle Knights have been contacted for comment.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said the Crash Investigation Unit was examining all of the circumstances leading up to the crash.
Initial investigations suggested three vehicles - a Toyota MR2, a Subaru Liberty and a Mazda Tribute - were travelling north on the motorway when they were involved in an initial crash, before those vehicles then crashed into four more vehicles.
The most seriously injured man was driving the Toyota.
Pauli was believed to be driving the Subaru with three passengers on board: a 27-year-old woman, who broke her leg; an 18-year-old man, who suffered suspected spinal injuries; and a 15-year-old boy, who broke his collarbone.
The driver of the Mazda, a 58-year-old woman from Gorokan, suffered a chest injury.
Police said a 50-year-old man, from Woy Woy, also was taken to hospital with chest pain; his 47-year-old passenger was checked for chest and neck injuries; while a 13-year-old girl was treated for bruising.
Police urged anyone with information about the crash to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.