Barlin injured his knee early in their impressive win at Coleambally last week and fears it was serious were spot on.

"He's torn his ACL and some other damage, he's done a good job of it so he'll be out for the year," CSU coach Travis Cohalan said.

"It is a shame, especially in the first five minutes of his first game for his new club. He was excited to be at the club and we were very excited to have him.

"He's kept a very positive attitude. He's going to come and do some other things and help out with some coaching as well but it's not good news at all."

CSU will also be without full-back Walt Morton when they take on Marrar this Saturday. Morton suffered a dislocated shoulder but without complications or fractures, he should be back in a matter of weeks.

The Bushpigs-Bombers showdown at Peter Hastie Oval is the only game between two round one winners, after Marrar comfortably accounted for the Northern Jets.

"Massive challenge," Cohalan declared.

"We're very cognisant of the fact that one hot day doesn't make a summer. We played very well last week and did things we've been practicing but the challenge now is to apply that every week.

"We're looking forward to challenging ourselves week to week against quality opponents and Marrar certainly are, tipped to be up there in the top three.

"We're going to have to be right on our game this weekend to be competitive."

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