Newcastle Knights head coach Adam O'Brien expects to be without all of James Schiller, Jacob Saifiti and Jack Hetherington next weekend, while Jack Cogger isn't a guarantee to play either.
The Knights lurched from one disaster to the next on Sunday, finishing their 20-0 loss to the Canterbury Bulldogs with just 14 players, which included Jack Cogger who played through a dislocated finger.
The visitors had 15 players from almost the word go, with Jacob Saifiti tearing his calf while running out to start the game, and outside back James Schiller suffering a concussion early in the contest.
Coach Adam O'Brien revealed exactly how Saifiti injured himself, then confirmed the news around Schiller and Jack Hetherington.
“He [Jacob Saifiti] warmed up, he was fine, and he usually gives one little blast of energy before he does the kick-off carry. He fights, he studies which side they kick-off because he wants that carry every week and when he wasn't there I knew something was wrong but he did it then. He tore a calf,” O'Brien said on Saifiti during his post-match press conference.
“Then we lost Schill with a HIA after that.
“It's the shoulder he [Hetherington] has has trouble with in the past, so it doesn't look good.”
The news regarding Jack Cogger is also not ideal for the men from the Hunter, although O'Brien is hopeful the halfback will play next weekend.
“He [Jack Cogger] just can't get it [the dislocated finger] back in. I figure that's the least of our problems, he will be right next week, but the main thing for Jack now is getting it back in," O'Brien revealed.
“It's still out now. I just spoke to him now. They still can't get it back in.”
The Knights, who now sit at two wins and two losses ahead of next week's Sunday afternoon clash against the Wests Tigers, will be sweating on key returns, with O'Brien revealing Tyson Gamble is a chance of playing, while Kai Pearce-Paul will return from suspension.
Pearce-Paul will likely come straight into the starting team with Thomas Cant dropping back to the bench and the injured Hetherington dropping out, while Gamble is an option to replace Cogger, should it be needed.
Otherwise, Gamble's return could see Fletcher Sharpe take the wing position of James Schiller to vacate a spot for Gamble at five-eighth.
Elsewhere, Newcastlre will likely promote Mat Croker into Jacob Saifiti's starting role with Brodie Jones joining the bench.
Despite being held scoreless, O'Brien was understandably full of praise for the way in which his side fought through the contest.
“Exactly that [brave performance]. I said to the team we have won before and I haven't been that proud of the performance,” O'Brien said.
“We didn't get the result, but when you look back later on and see a 20-0 scoreline, you're probably thinking we didn't play well, but I'm really proud of them.
“To go through what they did and there is a fair bit more than you wouldn't know about that they went through personnel wise and then having young blokes within one minute step out of their comfort zone and all of a sudden they are playing 80 for us.
“We can build on that performance. There was some stuff there. Execution wise, it wasn't where we needed to be, but the foundations of being a gritty team are back and I don't reckon we have had that the first three weeks.”
