Cronulla are weighing up whether to risk star five-eighth Matt Moylan for the Sharks' clash with arch-rivals Melbourne on Friday night.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan confirmed on Thursday that Luke Lewis was certain to return from the foot injury that has delayed his start to the season, but he couldn't be as definitive on Moylan.
The former NSW State of Origin fullback missed last week's win over Parramatta with a minor hamstring issue, but the Sharks are said to be more concerned about a knee complaint that worried him through the pre-season and trial matches.
"Matty has trained well today, but we'll see how he pulls up tomorrow," Flanagan said.
"It's just a problem with his knee, but he's had it through the trials and through the first couple of rounds. We'll just keep bubbling on with it and hopefully he gets on top of it."
The 26-year-old has trained on restricted duties all week after it was confirmed last week's hamstring complaint was not a tear, but rather fluid between two of the compartments on the muscle.
Ordinarily, Flanagan said, he would take a more cautious approach with stars such as Moylan at this point in the season.
But at the same time, the 2016 premiership-winning mentor is well aware of the fact his team risks dropping three of their first four games with a loss - a position the Sharks have recovered from just once in their 51-year history to make the finals.
The Sharks could also do with him for impetus, given their ever-changing spine has helped conjure up just five linebreaks in their opening three games - the least in the competition.
"You don't want to be playing players when a week out could let them catch up," Flanagan said.
"But also you don't want to be 1-3 or 1-5 from your first couple of game.
"So that's important as well, that's the management side of things that we need to concentrate on. We'll work hard with our high performance staff and physios to get that right."
If Moylan is ruled out, Trent Hodkinson will likely be elevated from the extended bench to partner Chad Townsend in the halves as he did last week.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Cronulla haven't scored above 18 against the Storm in their past 19 meetings.
* Owing to their defensive dominance, Melbourne have won 14 of their past 19 clashes with Cronulla.
* The Sharks have forced seven dropouts this season, the equal-most in the NRL.
Stats courtesy Fox Sports Stats.
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