 Richards (right) returned to the pitch for Wigan's celebrations
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Wigan's Pat Richards has torn his Achilles tendon and is set to be sidelined for at least six months.
Super League's 2010 Man of Steel limped down the tunnel just before half-time of Saturday's Grand Final against St Helens at Old Trafford.
Australian Richards had kicked two conversions before being forced off.
The 28-year-old prolific goal-kicking winger was crowned Man of Steel last month, beating Adrian Morley and team mate Sam Tomkins to the accolade.
Richards admitted afterwards that his pain had been eased by Wigan's 22-10 victory - their first Grand Final win in 12 years.
"I'll be five or six months out now but, at the start of the day, if I'd known that would happen and we'd still end up winning, I'd have taken that," he said.
"I could have done this last week, or last month, and ended up missing this, so I'll just take what we've got now.
"I've played every week this season with these boys, we couldn't have played any better tonight and I couldn't be happier.
"I've worked so hard this season to achieve this and now I can put it alongside the one I won down under."
Richards has now set himself the long-term target of returning from his long winter lay-off ahead of schedule - and being fit in time for the start of next season.
"That's the goal now," he said. "I was coming out of our end, pushed off and just felt it go. I knew immediately that it was gone.
"But we've got a great medical team at Wigan and I'll be back."
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