The Newcastle Knights look set to hand multiple players debuts after naming five rookies in a 22-man squad for their historic clash with the Dolphins at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday.
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With up to 10 top-flight players unavailable, including co-captains Kalyn Ponga and Jayden Brailey, the Knights were forced to dip into their lower-grade ranks on Tuesday and named playmaker Ryan Rivett and outside-back Dylan Lucas to make their NRL debuts from the interchange bench.
The line-up could be altered later this week with back-rower Jack Johns (ankle) in doubt to play.
Oryn Keeley, who made a shock debut late last year, and fellow rookies Thomas Cant and Ben Talty were listed as replacement options.
In a welcome boost, Mat Croker returns from suspension.
The injury crisis and Jacob Saifiti's five-week ban is a case of déjà vu for the Knights after losing Mitch Barnett to a six-game ban early last season at a time when a similar number of players were sidelined.
The club will be keen to avoid a lengthy losing streak like they encountered last year during the comparable circumstances, but they face a huge challenge to back up on a five-day turnaround for their inaugural clash with the Dolphins, which is expected to attract about 20,000 fans.
The Wayne Bennett-coached side, second only to Manly on for-and-against, will be full of confidence after wins over the Roosters (28-12) and Raiders (20-14). They've lost hooker Jeremy Marshall-King to a two-game ban but are otherwise close to full-strength.
"They're exceeding the public's expectations, they had another good win on the weekend," Knights back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon said of the Dolphins in a Triple M radio interview.
"First home game, it's meant to be perfect weather, so I'm sure we're going to get a big crowd there.
"Mat Croker comes back in from suspension, but we'll have some boys out. Everyone's looking forward to Friday ... First game back in Newy - I can't wait."
The Knights submitted an early guilty plea to Saifiti's high-tackle charge on Tuesday, accepting a five-game suspension rather than trying to seek a downgrade.
Sent off in the 65th minute of Sunday's 14-12 win over Wests Tigers, Saifiti was charged with a grade-three reckless high tackle for his shot on utility Jake Simpkin.
Had Saifiti gone to the judiciary and lost, he would have copped a six-game ban.
After careful consideration, the Knights came to the decision that the odds were likely stacked against him.
"We believed that once we looked at the indicators, and I had a lot of dialogue with [specialist judiciary lawyer] Nick Ghabar who represented Wade [Graham] the week before, Nick and I both felt at the end of the day it wasn't worth the risk of trying to get a downgrade," Knights football director Peter Parr told the Newcastle Herald.
"We looked at the vision, the key indicators ... and whilst we believed there was a chance to get it downgraded, we didn't feel it was enough of a chance to risk the six matches.
"And in the end Jacob agreed with that."
Saifiti will not be available until round eight when Newcastle face North Queensland at Townsville on April 22.
Other players sidelined from Newcastle's top-30 roster include: Ponga, Brailey, Tyson Frizell, Adam Elliott, Kurt Mann, Adam Clune, Krystian Mapapalangi, Simi Sasagi and potentially Johns.
Meanwhile, Central Newcastle junior Kurt Donoghoe was again named on the Dolphins' bench to play what will be his third consecutive NRL match.
Donoghoe played five-eighth for the Knights in the Jersey Flegg grand final less than six months ago.
Dolphins captain Jesse Bromwich said after his side's come-from-behind win over Canberra on Saturday that the players would need to prioritise their recovery this week after two big games.
"Our first away game, it's important we get our bodies right and look forward to a tough game," he said.
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