Winter was hurt in last week's loss to the Northern Jets. He had hoped to recover for the Bushpigs game but made the call after training on Thursday night that he wouldn't run the risk.

He faces a nervous wait.

"At this stage, they're still not 100 per cent sure what it is. It could be a range of things, it could be just a small medial. I've got to go for scans to see and then we can work on putting in a plan in place to get back as soon as I can," Winter said.

"I'm hoping it's not too bad but I don't know until we get the scans back."

North Wagga defender Matt Thomas is back from suspension while ruckman Ky Hanlon also comes in after he was unavailable last week.

Winter considers the contest at Peter Hastie Oval to be a danger game for the Saints. Both sides are aiming to bounce back from their second loss of the season last week.

He wasn't willing to risk leaving his team a player short if his knee didn't hold up.

"I was hoping to play but just didn't pull up too good," he said.

"We can't afford to be a man down against CSU. They're travelling along pretty well. It should be a good game."

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