A battered and bruised Cronulla have been handed a timely boost with Wade Graham and Will Kennedy both beating concussions to face North Queensland.
A week after a brutal injury toll left the Sharks without a spare man on their bench, coach John Morris confirmed the pair had passed concussion protocols.
It comes as a rare glimmer of positive news for Cronulla, with winger Sione Katoa out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury and Briton Nikora and Jesse Ramien suspended.
“It’s a quite in-depth process now with the return to play with the concussion protocols and so it should be,” Morris said.
“But they have passed their steps during the week and are back in contact training. So they will be right to go.
“A performance like that (against Parramatta last week) really brings you close together.
“You really don’t know what you are made of as a club until you are put in those situations.”
Kennedy’s inclusion at fullback and Graham as captain should at least come as a weight off the shoulder of the under-pressure Morris.
He has made the finals in each of his two years in charge despite adversities, including a salary-cap penalty and Bronson Xerri’s drugs ban.
The Sharks have been competitive in each of their first three games, but still sit at 1-2 with Morris off-contract and doubts remaining over his future.
They have the Sydney Roosters, Newcastle, Penrith and Melbourne in four of the next five games, in a run that will prove crucial to the coach’s future.
“I’m trying to keep the focus on the team,” Morris said.
“I understand the club has decisions to make there and they will do that when it suits them.
“But all I can do is control the amount of effort and commitment I put into my job and the boys.
“And I will do whatever it takes to prepare them as a team to win footy games. If we do that everything else gets looked after.”