Ruled out ... Michael Crocker won't play against the Bulldogs. Phil Hillyard

By Tyson Otto and David Beniuk
April 05, 2010

South Sydney coach John Lang is not flustered by the latest injury setback to hard man Michael Crocker and believes his makeshift forward pack can account for Caterbury-Bankstown.

Crocker's return to the NRL will be delayed after he was ruled out of Souths' battle with the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium and is also in doubt for round five.

The Rabbitohs have one of the longest injury lists in the competition with Crocker, Ben Ross, Dave Tyrrell and Eddy Pettybourne among those on the sidelines.

While he was careful not to name any specific targets about where they aim to be after 26 rounds, Lang said his side has the depth to match it with the best teams in the competition - even with star players unavailable.

"To be honest I'm not too concerned," Lang said.

"The team we have right now can match it with anybody."

Lang also warned Souths fans the looming return of Crocker does not mean his side will automatically go up a gear.

"We gave him a chance at the start of the week but he just pulled up a little stiff on Friday," Lang said.

"He trained really strongly on Thursday which is promising."

He has been replaced by North Sydney NSW Cup player Garrett Crossman.

Lang said Crossman had been impressive in the pre-season trials and has been strong in the second-grade competition.

"He only just missed out on a spot in round one so it's not a big step backwards or anything like that, he's right up there with the rest of them," he said.

Despite the troubling number of injuries, there is good news for Lang and his team with Pettybourne declaring himself four weeks away, ahead of schedule to return from a broken jaw.

Tyrrell is also recovering quicker than expected from a "shattered" eye socket and could be back as early as round 12.

Lang said his side was yet to play their best footy and is not worried by some fans' disappointment with new signings Dave Taylor and Sam Burgess.

"We didn't sign these players to be brilliant after four weeks," he said.

"It's ludicrous for people to think they could be the best in the competition when they've only played a few games together. We signed these players to play consistent football throughout the season and to be at their best at the end of it."

And that is exactly what Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan believes will happen.

On the eve of his club's game with Souths, Ryan flattered his adversaries and said he understands why his opposite Roy Asotasi likened the 2010 Rabbits pack to the Bulldogs' 2004 premiership side.

"The guys that they've got in their pack, they can certainly play some pretty good footy so I guess Roy was pretty excited about the prospect of having all those guys in the forward pack at once," Ryan said.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us because they have certainly got a massive forward pack."

Statistically at least, the Bulldogs have little to fear in taking on the Rabbitohs.

The Bulldogs hold a 7-1 advantage at ANZ Stadium and have lost only three of the last 21 clashes between the clubs.