Luckless St George Illawarra could be about to receive a much-needed boost with Tyson Frizell a chance to return for next Sunday's NRL clash against Newcastle.
Paul McGregor's side are in the grips of a major talent shortage with skipper Gareth Widdop dislocating his shoulder against Brisbane and likely to require surgery, a blow which could spell the end of his season and his time in the NRL.
With Jack de Belin suspended indefinitely, the Red V are without two of their biggest stars.
However it's understood they could be about to get one back with Frizell a possibility to recover from a lacerated testicle in time to take on the Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium.
After suffering the injury as a result of an accidental low blow in their season-opening loss to North Queensland and undergoing surgery, the club had pencilled him in for two to four weeks on the sidelines, putting him on track to possibly return next weekend.
The Dragons were roundly criticised following their opening two losses to the Cowboys and South Sydney, however snuck home by a Corey Norman field goal on the back of a dominant performance by their pack against Brisbane on Friday.
The likes of James Graham, Paul Vaughan and Tariq Sims out-muscled the much-vaunted young Broncos pack.
And Vaughan said he took the challenge personally.
"It was good. It was a great battle, the Broncos have a great forward pack, they're very powerful, we knew we had a big job to do and some of the boys took it a little bit personal," Vaughan said.
"Which is good, you've got to make those challenges with yourself and with the other players."
After hitting their stride against the Broncos, the injection of Frizell would only further bolster an already impressive pack.
"The first two games we've started really well with the forwards," Vaughan said.
"We set a great platform and then in the second half we fell away at times.
"It was a big challenge for the boys last night and we took it upon ourselves to get the boys off to a good start, build a platform and go from there.
"We know what we're capable of. We've got a great pack, we just have to do a bit more heavy lifting until some of the other boys come back."
Australian Associated Press
