After being clobbered by Penrith, Cronulla's week just got a whole lot worse when Shaun Johnston was ruled out of this weekend's Magic Round after straining his hamstring in training.
The 13th-placed Sharks meet South Sydney on Saturday with both teams hoping for redemption after the Rabbitohs themselves suffered a 50-point shellacking at the hands of Melbourne.
Johnson was all set to make his 200th NRL appearance until tweaking a hamstring on Tuesday.
The injury to the Kiwi international is a big blow to the struggling Sharks, but also presents an opportunity for Matt Moylan.
The 29-year-old injury-plagued playmaker is expected to be added to the starting line-up after returning last week to play against his former teammates at the foot of the mountains.
Coach Josh Hannay still has a couple of training sessions to go before settling on his line-up.
Also joining Johnson on the sidelines will be centre Jesse Ramien, who suffered a fractured eye-socket in the loss to Penrith.
Meanwhile, Andrew Fifita has completed his four-match ban and has been named on the interchange bench.
