Knights coach Ronald Griffiths is confident the club has the depth to cover for the loss of two-time premiership-winning forward Simone Karpani, who has been ruled out for the season, and prop Rima Butler whose campaign is also in doubt.
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Karpani (ankle) and Butler (thumb) were both left out this week for tomorrow's clash with Cronulla at McDonald Jones Stadium but Griffiths confirmed yesterday that Karpani was done for 2023.
"Simone won't play again, unfortunately," the coach said.
"Simone is a huge loss for us. She has won two premierships in a row.
"And I reckon Simone is the sort of player that typifies what our club is built on the back of - the player that everyone wants to play alongside."
Kaparni suffered a Lisfranc fracture in last week's 22-20 win over Brisbane.
Butler also fractured a thumb in the game and required surgery afterwards.
Asked about her fitness, Griffiths remains hopeful she may return this season.
"Rima has gone from strength to strength since she's been here," he said.
"There's a reason why we signed her for two years, and I have no doubt at the back of those two years you could look at extending Rima longer. She is going to have a very long, bright future in the game.
"As for her predicament, well we'll wait until she sees the specialist next Thursday, and then work out a return to play from there.
"We're still hopeful, and Rima is extremely positive that she will play in the back end of the year."
Karpani and Butler had both played every game this season.
They're two seasoned forwards with Karpani having made 17 career appearances and Butler 10.
Skipper Hannah Southwell returns from a week off at lock to boost Newcastle's pack on Sunday. Caitlan Johnston, who had moved to the back row this season, reverts to prop, a position she played in a World Cup final last year.
Griffiths named rookies Viena Tinao and Felila Kia on the bench this week to relieve his more experienced starting forwards. They've played two NRLW games each.
Asked about the depth of his squad, the coach had every confidence the club could cover the dual losses.
"1 to 28. When we set about signing a top-24, we signed four development players that we thought at any point in the year they could play," he said.
"There was no greater testament to that than Kayla Romaniuk last year. She was a development player last year and played three games. One of those was a semi and one was a grand final.
"When we recruited this year ... we thought that was the [similar] path we were going to go down. We're confident in our depth."
The club elevated prop Jacinta Hensler-Carter from its development list to the top-24 roster last week and Griffiths indicated she would likely be called upon at some point in the four remaining games of the regular season.
"We'll have no hesitation picking her when the time is right." he said.
Placed seventh, the Sharks have won two of their five games, while Newcastle will be hoping to secure outright first with another victory. They've won four of five. Kick-off is from 1.45pm.
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