KNIGHTS coach Adam O'Brien says he will give primary playmaker Jackson Hastings every chance to prove his fitness for Sunday's clash with Cronulla but has no qualms about again relying on Adam Clune.
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Hastings' absence because of an ankle injury allowed Clune to play his first NRL game of the season in Newcastle's 29-10 triumph against South Sydney at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday, and the 28-year-old marked the occasion with a try and a booming field goal.
"To lose your halfback, you're not just losing your halfback, you're worried that it's going to affect the rest of these guys," O'Brien said. "But Adam was exceptional.
"He ran the team all week and he's been doing it for a long time in NSW Cup.
"It's been a tough year back there in the cup for him, but he just doesn't drop his lip. He gets on with it and he was the right man for the job for us."
O'Brien was optimistic that Hastings, who suffered a low-grade syndesmosis in a "hip-drop" tackle that led to Canterbury's Jacob Preston being suspended, would recover in time to take his place against the Sharks.
"The last 24 hours it's improved a lot," he said.
"It's still too early to say. I'll name him again Tuesday and give him every chance.
"That last 24 hours has been a bit more positive. The swelling has reduced pretty dramatically so that's a good sign."
O'Brien said Hastings, who joined Newcastle after stints with the Roosters, Manly, Wests Tigers and in England, allowed the players around him "to be the best versions of themselves".
Newcastle's other injury concern leading into the Cronulla game is forward Lachlan Fitzgibbon, who spent the second half of Sunday's game nursing a shoulder injury on the sideline.
"He's jarred up a shoulder," O'Brien said.
"They're hopeful it will settle. It's tightened up on him.
"He'll go for scans but he seems pretty confident that it'll settle."
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