When Adam O'Brien said back in May he may have to call on his entire squad at some stage just to get through the season after COVID struck and shut down the competition, the Knights coach wasn't gazing into a crystal ball.
He just figured being forced to play 18 games straight and a finals series off the back of just two weeks of contact drills at training as well as game day travel would impact on the welfare of his players.
But he could never have foreseen the sort of carnage his side has been forced to deal with in the opening 15 rounds.
Other clubs have been hit hard with injuries as well but none more savagely than the Knights, with veteran five-eighth Blake Green, in just his third game for the club, the latest casualty.
Like Jayden Brailey, Connor Watson, Tim Glasby and most likely Andrew McCullough before him, Green appears to be gone for the season with a severe knee injury just when it appeared he could be the difference between the Knights just making up the numbers in the play-offs or potentially challenging the premiership heavyweights for the title.
It's left O'Brien with a selection headache he doesn't need - a decision around who fills Green's void in the halves for the rest of the season.
Does he take the safe and easy option and shift Kurt Mann back to six to partner Mitchell Pearce and bring in specialist hooker Chris Randall to share the dummy-half role with Phoenix Crossland.
Or does he delve even deeper into the well for the Warriors clash on Saturday in Tamworth and give forgotten man Mason Lino his first opportunity of the season in the top grade alongside Pearce.
O'Brien and his coaching staff will no doubt be weighing up the pros and cons of whatever decision they come up with.
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Mann has been arguably the Knights best player this season and for the majority of the time, he has been at five-eighth. But is moving him back there now in the best interests of the team?
More specifically, is Mann playing at six in the best interests of Pearce and fullback Kalyn Ponga? There is no question with Green as a playmaking five-eighth with a kicking game, it has freed up Pearce and Ponga over the past three weeks to play their more natural games.
It has taken the pressure off the skipper while Ponga has played much wider and been far more dangerous since being relieved of any last tackle responsibilities.
Will that be jeopardised and change things if Mann wears the number six jersey again?
Lino potentially offers similar attacking qualities to Green and also gives the side a career goal-kicking success rate of more than 80 percent at a time when Ponga is struggling with his confidence in that area.
In the debit column for Lino though is a big one - his defence. He also hasn't played a game outside of a couple of lower grade scrimmages several weeks ago.
O'Brien's rule of thumb if he is choosing between two players for the one spot is, in most cases, he'll go with the better defender. That's the area of Lino's game that has held him back in his career. He can be a weak link in the defensive line.
But maybe now, against his former club, is the time for the coach to bite the bullet and show some faith in him.
Defensively, the Knights were fantastic against the Cowboys. But while a visibly shattered O'Brien said after the game, "I don't care about the attack tonight", at some stage he is going to have to.
The windy conditions no doubt played a part but with 56 percent of possession, the Knights could manage just two tries against a team with the third worst defensive record in the competition.
The Knights were so clunky with the footy at times, they were getting in each others way, even before Green went off. What the coach doesn't have to worry about is the form of his forward pack.
His middle forwards, David Klemmer, Mitch Barnett and Jacob Saifiti, were all outstanding and the Knights also got good value out of their bench with Herman Ese'ese, Josh King and Pasami Saulo all making an impact.
Mann was really solid again while Crossland, who came on when Green went off after 18 minutes and played hooker before interchanging with Mann to play the final 20 minutes at five-eighth, worked himself to a standstill.
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