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The injury news just gets worse for the Chiefs with halfback Jamie Nutbrown and captain Jono Gibbes the latest sidelined.
Nutbrown's season is over courtesy of an elbow injury that requires surgery while Gibbes yesterday aggravated his calf injury that occurred six weeks ago.
Nutbrown, 25, was to undergo an operation in Hamilton today to reattach a torn biceps tendon in his right elbow.
He sustained the injury after coming off the reserve bench during Friday night's 34-7 defeat of the Lions in Hamilton.
It is expected to take up to four months for Nutbrown to recover from the injury, putting him in doubt for the early weeks of Bay of Plenty's Air New Zealand campaign, starting in late July.
Initially he will be in a cast for six weeks.
Nutbrown's loss shouldn't be keenly felt by the Chiefs, who this week regain the services of All Blacks halfback Byron Kelleher, who has been undergoing a three-month reconditioning programme.
The impressive Brendon Leonard is also an option at No 9.
No replacement for Nutbrown will be sought.
Gibbes' injury is similar to what happened to fellow lock Keith Robinson when he tried to come back from his calf injury, except Gibbes did not even get to play a game.
Back-up skipper Steven Bates was able to complete some non-contact running on his sprained ankle yesterday, while Richard Kahui (shoulder), Cory Aporo (ankle) and Mike Delany (ankle) were all on the sideline doing some form of exercise and Mils Muliaina (broken foot) did not even make it that far.
Assistant coach Warren Gatland said the Chiefs had not necessarily played any better for their 34-7 win over the Lions at Waikato Stadium last Friday night than they had in other recent outings.
"We just got a bit of the bounce of the ball, a couple of decisions went our way and we ended up getting the points and the bonus point. There's a couple of other games that could have gone that way as well," Gatland said.
"There were a couple of other games that, when we look back now, just slipped by us and if we had taken them we'd be right in this competition.
"We're not out of it yet but we've had the bye already and while we've got a pretty good run home we've got the last game away to the Crusaders."
If they could pick up enough points in the next few weeks they would probably have to go down to Christchurch and have to get some points to qualify for the semifinals. That was a situation that in the present circumstances –- 12th place after seven rounds –- they'd take any day.
The Chiefs were currently high on self-belief, regardless of the opposition, and wins against the Reds in Brisbane this Saturday night and against the Blues in Hamilton the following Saturday would put them right back in the hunt. But Gatland warned Brisbane was not an easy place to play despite the Reds being at the bottom of the points table. The Chiefs have only won once over there –- 28-25 in 1998.
"They've only conceded three tries at home this season and I don't know what to make of them."
But he expected them to be desperate at Suncorp Stadium and said it would be crucial that the Chiefs used their strong scrum and ability to win quick ball for their fast outside backs effectively, and he hoped the referee would be tough on the Reds' penchant for scrum collapses and conceding penalties in an attempt to disrupt breakdowns.
