Wests Tigers five-eighth Josh Reynolds admits further investigation needs to be done on a persistent shoulder injury that has left him frustrated with his maiden season at the NRL club.

A week after returning from a hamstring injury, Reynolds played the entire second half of Sunday’s loss to Gold Coast with a busted left shoulder.

It is the second time the former Canterbury playmaker has suffered an issue with the same shoulder, having already missed five weeks earlier this season.

Reynolds is confident the latest setback won’t force him to miss any more games – the Tigers have the bye next week – but is resigned to playing with the injury for the rest of the season.

“It’s happened a fair bit now. It’s not like it’s a structural thing. It just gets hit and struggles to come back. It’s pretty weak, but I just have to put up with it. There’s nothing you can really do,” Reynolds said.

“I was just doing my best out there. I didn’t want to come off, but didn’t want to be a burden as well so I was in two minds. In the end I got through it but it just wasn’t good enough, was it?”

The 29-year-old has previously undergone reconstructions on both shoulders through his career, but has been left baffled by the his latest battle through pain.

He was diagnosed with a shoulder bone fracture earlier this year, and conceded not even the aid of painkilling injections have helped.

“They don’t work. It’s more for my headspace,” he said.

“It’s a weird one. It’s like a burner but stays there. Instead of being able to shake it out, it just gets a bit weak, that’s all,” Reynolds said of his current injury.

“I’m going to have to look into it. It’s a hard one because I don’t even want to be thinking about it.”

The Tigers have been unsettled with their spine this year, and again face the challenge of integrating mid-season recruits Robbie Farah and Moses Mbye into their line-up.

Veteran Benji Marshall could also be back from a calf issue following next week’s bye, creating a selection headache for coach Ivan Cleary.