The loss of back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon to a likely serious shoulder injury has added to what Knights coach Adam O'Brien has described as a "tough, shitty season".
Fitzgibbon left the field clutching his right shoulder 52 minutes into Newcastle's 42-12 loss to the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.
It is the same shoulder that required a reconstruction before the 2021 season and a clean-out later in the year.
The Knights were awaiting the result of scans to determine the extent of the 28-year-old's injury on Sunday, but the prognosis after the game wasn't great.
"It's not looking good," coach Adam O'Brien said.
The 97-game forward has had a luckless run with injuries in recent years, featuring in only eight of Newcastle's 18 games this season alone.
He missed six matches after tearing his medial against Wests Tigers in round two.
But after a few weeks in reserve grade he returned against Manly last week and started again on Friday.
His injury is likely to force O'Brien into making at least one change for Sunday's clash with the Bulldogs.
Asked about personnel changes after Friday's defeat, O'Brien said he didn't want to be "giving jerseys away" but admitted some players should be in the firing line.
"I won't do it just because the season is [gone], just handing jerseys to blokes when they haven't earned it," the coach said. "I think you just cheapen the jersey.
"But there's no doubt that there's some guys in there that probably need to feel what it's like to lose one."
The loss was Newcastle's seventh in nine games at home this season and a continuation of their dismal defensive record. It was the third consecutive game the team had conceded 40 or more points, after heavy losses to Manly (42-12) and South Sydney (40-28).
Never in the club's 34-year history, even through the wooden-spoon years of 2015-17, had the NRL side conceded 40 or more points in three-straight games.
Knights legend and coaching consultant Andrew Johns said it "could have been 60".
"The Roosters were in third gear, really," he said.
"They turned it on for a while but were running without fear, just pulling through the defensive line.
"Without Kalyn Ponga on the field for Newcastle, they lack punch, creativity, speed - it was just an ordinary performance. I could say worse things but it was just ordinary, hopeless."
O'Brien mooted changes last week given almost every player across the NRL and NSW Cup squads was available.
That situation has likely changed given Fitzgibbon's injury and Kalyn Ponga's concussion, but O'Brien was pleased with the performance of Phoenix Crossland, a player who hadn't featured in the NRL side for the five prior games but came off the bench to play majority of the match in the halves.
"I thought he added some spark to us," O'Brien said.
"I want to see that, I want to see blokes that want to rip in for the jersey and they'll be rewarded with selections.
"Just because the finals are out of contention, I don't want to just start looking at next year because that won't help us. I want to get better at the stuff that we need to."
