The Sharks depth will well and truly be tested this weekend when they take on St George Illawarra, with up to 11 NRL squad members unavailable through injury.
Heading that list is skipper Paul Gallen who injured his neck in State of Origin Game 1, while fellow representative players Todd Carney and Andrew Fifita are also sidelined with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively.
Jeff Robson, Anthony Tupou, Beau Ryan, Jonathan Wright, Sosaia Feki and Ricky Leutele are others from the NRL run on side unable to tackle the Dragons on Saturday.
On the bright side however there is a possibility that all 11 injured will be fit and available for the Sharks next match, which will be in round 15 clash with Manly, that game following a round 14 bye next weekend.
Another positive is the fact that coach Peter Sharp will introduce two more players to NRL football, with winger Jacob Gagan and five eighth Fa’amanu Brown set to make their top grade debut’s against the Dragons.
Gagan has been in solid form in the NSW Cup, while Brown impressed at the Auckland Nines during the pre-season and has been one of the stand outs for the Sharks NYC team so far in 2014.
With injury comes opportunity for others, with Nathan Gardner and Nathan Stapleton getting their chance to shine and to press for regular inclusion in the NRL team.
Michael Gordon has moved into the centres to fill the spot left vacant by Leutele, with Gardner to be the fullback on Saturday night.
For a complete run down of the Sharks injury list, click on the following link.
