Tyrell Sloan could earn an NRL reprieve this season as St George Illawarra weigh up how to best replace injured fullback Cody Ramsey.
Ramsey suffered an ugly-looking knee injury in Friday night's vital 20-6 win over Manly, with the Dragons hopeful it will only be a medial injury.
The Forbes junior was set to be sent for scans on his knee on Saturday, but it is unlikely he will play in the next month for the Saints.
Anthony Griffin went with a hybrid approach for the most part on Friday, with Moses Mbye defending at fullback and Jack Bird playing there in attack.
That is one option for the Dragons ahead of next Sunday's clash with North Queensland, ahead of a crucial six-week period where the team probably need four wins to play in the finals.
But Sloan is another option.
The highly-touted young talent has not played in the NRL since round 10, when he made a one-week comeback after being dropped following the first three games of the season.
The centre of attention early in the year for the Dragons, Sloan has since been playing in reserve grade after it was thought he needed more time to develop.
"It's a big loss when you lose your fullback, particularly Cody when he has been one of our best," Dragons coach Anthony Griffin said.
"We've got that option (of attacking it the same way we did against Manly).
"We just switched Moses back to left centre in attack and let Birdy roam, which just suited him a little more in attack. And then Moses took the high balls.
"We have Sloany there as well. We'll ... have a look at our options after tomorrow."
Ramsey's injury comes at a difficult time for the Dragons, with outside backs Mikaele Ravalawa (hamstring) and Moses Suli (ankle) both sidelined for the rest of the regular season.
It is also a significant blow for the 22-year-old, who had made the No.1 jersey his own in the past two months with Sloan in reserve grade.
Meanwhile, Sloan had been moved to the wing in NSW Cup last week, but Griffin said that was only as injury cover and didn't indicate he was no longer considered a fullback by the club.
"Last week was his first game back on the wing. When we lost Ravalawa, we thought we would put him there to school him up that way," Griffin said.
"It was to give him some football on the right wing last week and see if we can get him ready to play there."
