The Canberra Raiders say it's impossible to replace suspended wrecking ball Josh Papalii, but hope his absence will be offset by Shannon Boyd's rapid recovery from injury.
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The Raiders will be intent on avoiding a hat-trick of losses for the first time in two years when they play the Newcastle Knights on Sunday.
Papalii will miss the match after the Raiders board banned him for one NRL game after a bizarre drink-driving conviction two weeks ago.
The Raiders have opened the door for giant recruit Dave Taylor to help fill the void by adding him to an extended bench, while Sia Soliola will start in Papalii's No. 11 jersey.
But Boyd's quick recovery from an ankle problem will bolstered Canberra's big-man rotation after there were fears the prop had fractured his leg.
Boyd was forced to withdraw from the Australian squad for the Anzac Test against New Zealand last weekend after scans revealed soft tissue tears.
Boyd's presence against the Knights will help fill the gap left by the hard-hitting Papalii, but halfback Aidan Sezer conceded the 24-year-old's absence would leave a big hole.
"In my opinion, Papa is the best back-rower in the comp," Sezer said.
"He plays inside me and outside me in attack so it will be unfortunate not to have him, but we've got a great squad and I'm sure whoever is in that position will do a great job for us.
"They will be some big shoes to fill and we probably won't have someone who can do the job Papa does each week, but that's paying respect to the player he is."
Jordan Rapana, Joey Leilua, Junior Paulo, Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead were the only Raiders on representative duties last weekend, giving the majority of the squad a well-timed break after defeats to the Bulldogs and Manly.
Boyd didn't play for Australia after injuring his leg in the Raiders' loss to Canterbury, while captain Jarrod Croker Croker, who had an arm complaint, was made unavailable for the NSW City-Country game.
"I have no doubt those boys will run out ready to play on Sunday," Sezer said.
"It's round 10 and everyone's getting knocks and bruises and I guess that's accumulating over the weeks now so hopefully we can stay in good nick and keep a healthy squad.
"We came off the back of two tight losses and we were thoroughly disappointed with it, but it was good to get off the legs and freshen up mentally and physically and ready to fight back this week.
"We've been assessing out last two games and where we've gone wrong. It hasn't been up to the Raiders standard we pride ourselves on."
NRL ROUND 10
Sunday: Newcastle Knights v Canberra Raiders at Newcastle, 2pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports 2.
Raiders team: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson , 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Sia Soliola, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Luke Bateman. Interchange: 14. Adam Clydsdale, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Joe Tapine, 18. Scott Sorensen, 19. Jordan Turner, 20. Dave Taylor, 21. Zac Santo.
