Cronulla Caringbah junior Billy Magoulias is in line to make his NRL debut after being named in the Sharks squad for their crucial clash with the Warriors in New Zealand on Friday night.
Magoulias has been named as 18th man for the trip but is a genuine chance of climbing into the match day squad.
Captain Paul Gallen has been named at lock but must get through the week of training after suffering a gluteal injury a fortnight ago.
The problem saw him leave the field after 25 minutes against Brisbane and miss the loss to the Storm in Melbourne on Saturday night.
If Gallen is ruled out, the 22-year-old Magoulias will make his NRL debut.
A clever, ball-playing back-rower, Magoulias has progressed through Cronulla's junior system and represented NSW under-20s last year.
Sharks coach John Morris has also named Matt Moylan and Shaun Johnson to start at fullback and five-eighth respectively, though the pair are also no guarantee to play, needing to shake off hamstring and ankle injuries.
Josh Morris and Josh Dugan (broken nose/knee) join Wade Graham (hamstring) on the unavailable list, with Kurt Capewell and Aaron Gray named at centre and wing.
Ronaldo Mulitalo and Will Kennedy, who made their NRL debuts earlier this season, and Kyle Flanagan are also on stand by for Cronulla.
Cronulla will be desperate to halt a four-match losing streak having fallen out of the NRL top eight as the competition enters the final stretch of the regular season.
"We're one win away from basically turning it around. That's how close the competition is," coach John Morris said.
"I know we've slid out of the top eight and we're probably paying the price for a couple of close losses.
"But we go to the Warriors and we're just desperate. We've just got to find a way to win. When we get that win we'll [take] our first step towards turning it around."
