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, but it could have been a lot worse according to Sharks' halfback Chad Townsend.
The Sharks confirmed on Monday that their marquee playmaker had suffered a hamstring strain in Saturday night's loss to Brisbane.
"He's pretty down at the moment to be honest," Townsend said of Johnson on Fox League's' NRL Tonight.
"He had a scan in the last 24 hours and it looks like he's going to miss a month of football which is disappointing for us because he's a huge part of our team.
"It is however best case scenario. There was fears that it could be a lot longer time on the sidelines so a month on the sideline and hopefully we can get him back as soon as possible."
It means Kyle Flanagan will likely slot into the halves alongside 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, but could be a chance of facing Melbourne.
"He's had scans they've come back positive,' Townsend said.
"It's now just to see how he responds to treatment and training throughout the week and I've got no doubt he'll be given all the time to prove his fitness for this week's game."
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.
