“He’s done his ACL. He will most likely have surgery in the next couple of weeks – that’s how it usually works – but he’ll see the specialist on Monday.

“We have two halves in Drew and Sam. We believe in those guys, they’ve trained well, so we’ll go with them.“”

The Roosters have two spots available on their roster, but Robinson said they did not have the funds to find a replacement of Keary’s calibre.

Jake Friend is unlikely to return from concussion, but Lindsay Collins is expected to overcome his own head knock. Victor Radley will definitely play after being forced to skip the Souths game because of a shoulder complaint.

Rookie prop Daniel Suluka-Fifita will miss one week after taking the early plea for striking Jai Arrow in the back of the head.

Robinson tried to stay upbeat after the defeat.

“It’s really tough, but what do you do?” he said. “Let’s go. Let’s find a way. It’s what you do. You get disappointed for five minutes, then you get excited for what’s next.

“This is the acceleration of some other guys in our team to go and take opportunities, and it’s up to us to find a way. It’s round three.”

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James Tedesco backed Walker and Hutchison, and said the Roosters would remain a force.

“We’re still a top side – I still wouldn’t take us lightly,” he said.

“We started with two convincing wins and didn’t prepare as best we could for a top-four side like Souths. They’ve also had some tough games to start the year and were ready to play 80 minutes. We weren’t.”

As for Walker, Tedesco said: “Sam is only young, he’s 18, but the way he has started the year and trained during the pre-season, he’s definitely shown he’s ready. He’s a footy player, he’s similar to Keary, he plays what is in front of him and skilful with the ball.”