Gold Coast Titans have been forced into a reshuffle with inaugural captain Luke Bailey ruled out of Friday night's vital clash with Wests Tigers at Skilled Park.
The Titans' forwards leader has succumbed to a thumb injury which he had surgery on this week and will be replaced in the front-row by a man returning from injury, Anthony Laffranchi.
If they can take a positive out of it, it is that Greg Bird will start the match and play plenty of minutes while Mat Rogers remains in the halves alongside Scott Prince.
Laffranchi, who returns from a shoulder injury, is happy to move to the centre of the ruck if it means Bird will start and play more minutes.
"Birdy offers so much go forwards, second-phase play, and defensively; he is a good guy to have around the ruck and on the edges," Laffranchi said.
Laffranchi says he is 100 percent fit after sitting out last week's loss to the Sharks and will need to shoulder much of the load in the absence of Bailey with the Titans needing to win to stay in the top-four and gain a home semi-final.
"Playing for the Larry Corowa Shield, playing for the top-four, playing for the home semi – this is a big game for the club and one that I will enjoy playing in," he said.
The Roosters and Warriors lurk just two points behind the Titans on the competition ladder; both have a better for-and-against record, and both face lowly opponents this weekend.
A loss to the Tigers would almost certainly see the Titans fall out of the top-four – something that wouldn't quite sit right with Laffranchi who rates his side as a worthy top-four club.
"We could finish sixth and still play semis but we set ourselves a goal at the start of the year to get a home final, and it is still in reach so that would be disappointing to fail to achieve what we had set out to do," he said.
Last time the Titans and Tigers locked horns Nathan Friend and Robbie Farah had a dust-up, Mark Minichiello was sin-binned and Benji Marshall kicked a 50-metre field-goal to win the match 15-14.
Laffranchi won a premiership with the Tigers – Marshall and Farah included – in 2005 but there will be no pulling punches when he faces his old mates in battle.
"There is a bit of history there, we are good mates and there is a good rivalry between the clubs, both on the field and on the competition ladder," he said.
Wests sit on 34 points, two ahead of the Titans, and can wrap up a top-two finish and a guaranteed double chance in the finals, but while the Titans are missing Bailey and Preston Campbell, the Tigers' casualty ward has no vacancy.
Geoff Daniela on Thursday joined Chris Lawrence, Wade McKinnon, Liam Fulton, Bryce Gibbs and John Skandalis on the sidelines for the match.