It's been standing room only in the casualty ward and recovery unit at Temora as the Kangaroos face up to a horror start to the season.
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Temora knew 2021 wasn't going to be easy, particularly after their Canberra recruits for 2020 failed to recommit for this year. But it's been compounded by a disastrous run of injuries.
The 'Roos are winless through six games and conceded 30 goals in Saturday's loss to the Northern Jets at Ariah Park. For the Jets, it was sweet revenge, after being beaten by more than 100 points at the same venue last time they met.
But the bottom of the ladder is unfamiliar to Temora under coach Jake Wooden.
In three previous seasons, they've been in the top three after seven rounds.
However, they'll try not to lose heart given 12 players weren't there, including what would have been the core of their team.
Those sidelined last week included coach Wooden, captain Rob Grant, two of their few recruits - forward Jack Cullen and back Riley Hubbard - big man Chis Stacey, ultra-reliable defender Liam Pattison, as well as Tyler and Brad Moye (unavailable), and Jason and Adam Reid (who was a late out on Saturday with a hamstring).
Wooden, Stacey and Brad Moye should come in for Saturday's game against CSU but the 'Roos remain vastly undermanned.
Grant (collarbone) is a few weeks away after he was injured in round three along with Hubbard.
Cullen (broken hand), Jack Stimson (broken hand), and Jason Reid (hamstring) all went down in round six against Barellan.
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"It's been a frustrating year. There have been injuries, but they're big injuries too," Wooden said.
"Since round one, it's slowly chipped away. Rob (Grant) is a few weeks away... Riley was 12 weeks against East Wagga (in round three).
"You get to training and half the senior squad is doing rehab on a Tuesday and Thursday night instead of out on the ground, and we're up to 12 (injuries) now so it's pretty hard to take."
Wooden conceded it's been hard to keep the group positive, particular as they're blooding plenty of young players.
On the eve of the season, the club elected to go without a side in the under 17.5s. As tough a call as it was at the time, it's proven fortuitous.
The impact of COVID-19 and subsequent cancellation of the 2020 season made for a great unknown and the Kangaroos have proven to be among the clubs hardest hit, with their planned recruits out of Canberra completely drying up.
But Wooden said they remain positive as a club, particularly given last year was a whole winter without sport.
"The netball side of the club is strong and going really well. The senior (footy) side, it's taken a toll on the twos because we're taking so many," Wooden said.
"But it's a young group (in seniors) and they're fronting up every week to training.
"It's a bit of a development period and we'll put some time into young players with seniors players out so it's only going to pay dividends in the long run."
The Kangaroos won't give up on finals but Wooden concedes it will become a difficult prospect if they don't get on the board sooner rather than later.
"If we don't have a couple of wins soon, it'll be very hard to be playing right at the end of the year but while there's opportunity, it's a positive," Wooden said.
COVID-19 always had the potential to hurt some clubs but Wooden said they're also looking at the upside.
"I've mentioned a couple of times that it's good to be playing again because the whole club missed it, football and netball," he said.
"We didn't have a lot of depth at the start of the year, we knew that with the Canberra line drying up, but it's really hurt now with senior players getting injured.
"But it's an opportunity for younger players. We're up to 12 debutants for this year."
As experienced footballers, Gus McRae, Isaac Reardon and Rob Krause have carried the load for Temora, trying to do the work of many.
Joe Morton and Liam Sinclair have shone and Matt Krause has made his mark.
"In a good strong team, those boys would be in there anyway but they've got a lot more responsibility pretty quickly," Wooden said.
After CSU this Saturday, Temora round out the first half of the year away to The Rock-Yerong Creek.
Following a long weekend general bye, they'll kick off the second half of the year at North Wagga.
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