Well, now Kepu and Cross are gone too. Barnes is unlikely to start next week and maybe is out for the season since he can't do a full training session without dizziness and fatigue. So what's left to fill out the season with?
1. Robinson. Playing up to his best. Tilse flying in to back up, but his last good games were for the Tahs last year in similar circumstances.
2. TPN. Not having the same impact as earlier on but still strong. Ulugia in reserve and Fitzpatrick too when they get back to Sydney.
3. Fuse. Played really well when he came on and always to be depended on for a top effort in tight. Paddy Ryan is green but shows a lot of promise.
4. Mumm. Playing to his abilities, he has great aerobic capacity and determination but lacks real impact. O'Connor as back-up doesn't inspire and is off to France accordingly.
5. Timani. One of the finds of the season, sad he's off to Japan. Kane Douglas to back up but has a serious case of second year syndrome.
6. Dennis. Was an absolute star early but has gone off the boil a bit. No back-up till Palu returns when he will go to the bench. If injury strikes Mumm would go to 6 with KD or PO'C coming on.
7. Alcock. A great first up game against the Lions but missed six tackles against the Sharks. Potentially our best fetcher but has to step up in consistency. Perrett is the back up till McCutcheon is back and should get at least 20 mins against the Bulls. McCutcheon was a star at sevens but has been impressive only once in four or five starts. Doesn't look like the next Pocock
8. Mowen. See comment on Dennis, Will go to 6. when Palu returns to strengthen the backrow.
9. Burgess. Ran well from the base but a lot of the turnovers were fundamentally due to his poor passing. Great bench impact player who is having a dislocative impact on the backline. McKibben is the back up who should be given an opportunity to start.
10. Hangers. Back to his best form last weekend and looked sublime. Missed one tackle that was really Alcocks man, which had the critics howling for him to be pulled. Critics, schmiticks. Only back up is Beale who needs to stay at 15 to keep the structure right and provide impact further out.
12. Carter. Actually missed one game through injury this year but is usually Mr Reliable. I guess BKH would have to come in if Carter's injured but he's also backing up Turner in 13. Maybe Batcher could fill in but its a huge worry.
13. Turner. A winger doing his absolute best but a winger/fullback nonetheless. BKH backing up, who has been injured for most of the season.
11. Anesi. No back-ups left and no one on the plane either. WTF? Says everything when Anesi is guaranteed 80 mins.
14. Pakalani. No back-ups left. Played really well when he came on and will do us proud. Almost won the game off a Beale grubber.
15. Beale. Playing OK but several times took the wrong option and ended up in turnovers. Team needs some real Kurtley magic to turn the season around. Batger the back-up, who is a journeyman fullback from Shute. Won't let us down but only a stopgap.
The biggest surprise is that we are still in the top six. The Force had it tough early and are now bottom four. The Crusaders have had a tough run of injury too but are still in the finals mix. Will find it tough to win from here though.
Writing this has triggered a severe depressive incident. Others on the site , especially Reds fans, dismiss the injury run as "just a minor problem everyone has". But last weekend the Reds team that ran out was virtually first choice except for Harris, Hynes and Davies. They are really riding their luck. The Tahs on the other hand are missing their best 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, all of them internationals and back-up players too numerous to mention. We've had to pull six players from the training squad or Shute Shield. Its not been our only problem this year but its been an elephant in the room of gigantic proportions.
I won't stop rooting for them but I think we are just about done for the season. The Bulls game could just about finish it if we get one more key injury.