The Dubbo Kangaroos' 2021 season was derailed by injuries and despite the starting the new Blowes Clothing Cup campaign with a win, it came at a cost.
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The Roos have been forced to shuffle the pack for Saturday's round two meeting with the Bathurst Bulldogs after a number of injuries were suffered during last weekend's narrow victory over Orange City.
Fullback Anthony Golding's return failed to last one match as he suffered a potentially serious bicep injury late on while flying winger Moa Kavaefiafi is facing a stint on the sidelines due to a hamstring complaint.
Representative back and club captain Tim Beach will also miss the clash with Bulldogs at Bathurst after a painful blow to the hand just before half-time last weekend.
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Golding's departure was a particularly frustrating one given the former Central West outside back had put in plenty of work during the pre-season after two years away from the game.
He, like Beach, is waiting on further scans to discover the full extent of his injury.
"I was hoping for a big year," Golding said, before speaking about the other knocks.
"It's not ideal. Moa doing his hamstring straight away is a big loss because he's got some real pace. Losing Beachy straight away is a big blow.
"But we do have good depth this year."
The depth was tested during an injury-ravaged campaign last year - the Roos had more than 20 players sidelined at one point - and it will be needed again on Saturday.
The Bulldogs sent a message to the competition in round one by defeating Orange Emus on their own turf for the first time in more than a decade.
Bulldogs scored a 35-31 win over Emus while at Dubbo, the Roos relied heavily on their defence during a tough 18-13 win over City.
Logan Porch came off the bench for the Roos due to the backline injuries and impressed with his work-rate while Jack Davis was solid in his return to first grade in the centres and new winger Ratu Roko also caught the eye.
There was also a number of strong performances in second grade, where the Roos defeated City 26-24.
"Hopefully we get boys back sooner rather than later and then we can get those combinations going and really put it to the competition, I think," Golding said.
"It will be tough (at Bathurst). Our defence is going to have to be really on-point again because the attack, the way we were looking, will take care of itself.
"It will be defence and if it's a wet track there we'll have to aim up and not give too many silly penalties away."
The women's match is also expected to be a highlight on Saturday given Bathurst and Dubbo have dominated the Westfund Ferguson Cup in recent years.
Dubbo's Roolettes showed their quality in round one when defeating City 61-0 while the Bulldogs are coming off a 47-7 win over Emus.
First grade kicks off at 3.15pm at Ashwood Park on Saturday.
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