Cronulla have suffered a massive blow with star half Shaun Johnson ruled out of NRL action for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury.
The Sharks confirmed on Monday that their marquee playmaker had suffered a hamstring strain in Saturday night’s loss to Brisbane.
It means Kyle Flanagan will likely slot into the halves alongside Chad Townsend for games against Melbourne, Gold Coast, Manly and St George Illawarra.
Johnson’s woes come as another hit to the injury-plagued Sharks, who risk having five of their past or present representative stars missing for Friday night’s clash with the Storm.
Matt Moylan, Aaron Woods and Wade Graham are all still sidelined while Josh Dugan is racing the clock to beat a hamstring injury to play.
Dugan has battled issues all season and was a late withdrawal against the Broncos on Saturday night.
Moylan is also still at least two weeks away from his return from a hamstring injury, while Woods has six more weeks before he comes back from a broken foot.
Meanwhile co-captain Wade Graham is hopeful of returning by round 11 from his knee reconstruction, after he was injured in last year’s finals.