Canberra Raiders coach Matt Elliott has backed utility Marshall Chalk to handle the added pressure of a starting position in Saturday night's qualifying final against the Bulldogs.
A spleen injury yesterday robbed winger Craig Frawley of his starting role, forcing Elliott to elevate Chalk from the bench into the starting 13.
Eighteenth man Ben Jones has come onto the bench as a result of the enforced reshuffle.
Frawley ruptured his spleen when attempting to mark a high ball during Canberra's 26-24 victory over the Sharks last Saturday night.
Feeling "sore and sorry" after the contest, Frawley vomited on and off the following day and felt pain when having to take deep breaths.
He requested scans with Raiders doctors yesterday and expected the results to show a bruised or even possibly a broken rib.
But the result was worse than he had hoped for, with the spleen injury ruling him out for the Raiders' entire finals campaign.
"I remember getting hit and was no good the next day but I came good Monday, except for the pain when breathing, and thought I'd be sweet," Frawley told The Canberra Times yesterday.
"When I got the scan results back, I just couldn't believe it. It wasn't what I was expecting.
"I'll be okay for next year but as for this year, no matter how far the boys get, you can't really stuff around with this type of thing because of possible internal bleeding."
Frawley joins teammates David Howell, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Andrew Lomu, Trevor Thurling and Josh Miller on the sidelines until 2007.
Despite having to change his starting line-up three days before kick-off, Elliott remained confident his replacements had enjoyed enough experience with the senior side this season to successfully cover Frawley's absence.
"In some ways I'm excited about what Chalky will bring to us," the coach said.
"He's actually got a little bit of a dimension to his play that we miss when he's not out there.
"Frawls is a loss but Marshall Chalk has been in outstanding form.
"The team has a huge amount of faith in Chalky and the boys don't allow me to not have him in the team so I feel very confident about that."
Chalk has played 19 NRL games this season, the majority off the bench. He started the year playing in the backline before the Raiders' coaching staff developed him into a back-rower.
But his return to the wing, where he will link with Adam Mogg on the right-side defensive line, had the 25-year-old excited.
"Last time I played on the wing I had a bit of success so if I get options again, I can take advantage of that," Chalk said.
"Over the past five or six years I've played a lot in the outside backs and it doesn't take much to fall back into that roll. "
In early markets issued yesterday, the Raiders were rank outsiders at $3.30 to beat the heavily favoured Bulldogs outfit, rated $1.30.
Jones, who played his first NRL match last weekend since the Raiders lost to Melbourne in round 15, was shocked yesterday when told of his inclusion into Saturday night's side.
Jones was initially on standby for Kris Kahler, who is hopeful of overcoming a knee injury in time for Canberra's do-or-die contest.
"I've got the cold sweats now. This is the first I've heard of it. I'm sure once I get out on the field I'll be right," Jones said.
"The Bulldogs do have a very dominant forward pack but I think we'll have a good game plan to try and get over the top of them."
The Bulldogs will also be without their share of talent for the contest with Reni Maitua, Tony Grimaldi, Roy Asotasi and Willie Tonga sidelined with injury.
