If Steelform Wanganui did not have bad luck with first-fives, they would have no luck at all.
Playing to save their season from being one of the worst in 28 years, by winning their first away game in the Pink Batts Heartland Championship against King Country in Te Kuiti tomorrow, coach Jason Caskey has brought in veteran Areta Lama to replace the injured Dane Whale.
Caskey said the obvious successor, Zyon Hekenui, was "still not right" after getting hurt at the national under-19 tournament in Taupo last week.
"He's got a crook knee from last Wednesday [against Southland]."
Lama's last game was with the Wanganui Development team when they won the RDO Shield final at Cooks Gardens on September 20.
Whale's season ended after having his jaw broken by a punch from Wairarapa Bush loose forward Sam Marshall-Wilson in last weekend's 38-24 win.
Marshall-Wilson was cited by Citing Commissioner Mike O'Leary and pleaded guilty, being handed a five-week suspension from all rugby, which will include the start of the 2015 club season.
With Wanganui still hopeful of scraping into the second-tier Lochore Cup semifinals, Caskey said they had to remain positive about the trip north.
Their three previous away losses were all on the long-flight haul to the South Island.
"We're still hoping for a realistic opportunity for a home game next week.
"It's the big thing [winning away]," Caskey said. "We haven't been able to do it so far.
"But we beat them in pre-season up there [in Turangi], so if we turn up and play well, we'll get there."
The weather is supposed to be warm but with a prospect of rain tomorrow.
Among the rest of the squad, lock Sonny Woodmass returns to the starting lineup, while Lasa Ulukuta was kept on light duties with jogging and little contact to help with his hamstring on Tuesday night.
The big surprise package could be the return of Taranaki powerhouse Bryn Hudson.
With his knee-ligament damage initially expected to keep him out for the rest of the campaign, Hudson was still assisting the Wanganui team last Saturday and Caskey has him bracketed with Tremaine Gilbert on the bench.
"He wants to be involved. He's got to see if he trains tonight [Thursday]."
The key ingredient for Wanganui will be discipline, as the penalty counts against them have grown lopsided in recent weeks.
Also playing to secure their Lochore Cup spot, King Country beat Wairarapa Bush (32-13) but lost to Thames Valley (15-10).
They then got hit with the Buller juggernaut (53-29), but rebounded against North Otago (17-14) and West Coast (15-10).
King Country then lost to Poverty Bay (35-29) but were comfortable last week against East Coast (34-7).