Canterbury are fully aware there are few men in the NRL who can play like Viliame Kikau and Matt Burton but that's exactly why the Bulldogs are sure they've got the code to cover for the absence of their two most creative attacking players.
Burton and Kikau both sustained knee injuries in Sunday's win over the Titans, with Burton expected to miss two to four weeks while Kikau is out for three to six.
It means Cameron Ciraldo's side will look to Bailey Hayward in the halves and Sitili Tupouniua down the left edge, starting with this Sunday's clash with arch-rivals Parramatta.
But the new duo won't be asked to do an impression of the injured stars, with Canterbury backing them to play to their own strengths in order to fill the gap.
"Whoever is covering them won't try and play like them or be them. They'll just play to their abilities, do what they do well. We have full confidence in them," said lock forward Jaeman Salmon.
"Nobody is going to do more than they usually would. We have a game plan we want to stick to and we need to execute that. Nobody will be doing too much.
"We don't expect Milk (Heyward) to come in and play like Burto. He's going to play like himself and do a great job for us.
"He's a great fella, a great communicator. We have full faith in the system and the job he'll do for us."
Hayward came through the grades as a half but since his NRL debut last year has played nearly every minute as a lock and while Tupouniua has plenty of starting experience from his Roosters days, there are few backrowers in the world with Kikau's arsenal of attacking weapons.
Those attacking skills have been on show early in the season, with Kikau accumulating three try assists in the club's first two matches — including the first try of both wins on identical sweep patterns down the left that put Marcelo Montoya over.
Both times it was Burton who manufactured the space for Kikau's creativity and the five-eighth also acts as the side's primary in-play kicker — in the season opener against St George Illawarra, Burton took 18 of the side's 19 kicks in general play.
That task will now fall mainly on halfback Toby Sexton, who did a fine job of taking the team around the park following Burton's departure from last week's win over the Titans.
The 24-year-old lacks the star profile of other playmakers but it was his introduction to the scrum base that helped set the Bulldogs on the course to last year's finals berth.
Through two weeks he's continued that form and will be tasked with an even greater share of the attacking responsibility against the Eels and in the weeks to come.
"He's a great organiser. He's a good talker on the field, he directs us around and he has that calm voice on the field," Salmon said.
"He's had a great start to the season, like a few of the boys, and if we keep that going it'll put us in good stead."
With Sexton's direction, Heyward's ability to dig into the line and Tupouniua's strength as a hole-runner, it points to a direct, physical style of attack against the Eels.
But not having Burton and Kikau reduces the margin of error for Canterbury.
They're the sort of players who can create something from nothing, or can transform a poor set or attacking movement in a second due to their prodigious skills.
So in the meantime, it's the system that must stand tall.
The Dogs have lost some of their brilliance, so they must compensate by being more methodical and deliberate and by outlasting their opponents rather than knocking them out with a couple of big shots.
For a team that prides itself on being built on hard work, it may still add up to a winning formula this weekend, especially given the Eels' lacklustre start to the year.
But given this is Canterbury and Parramatta, there's little chance of complacency when the two old rivals meet at Stadium Australia on Sunday.
"[I like] the competitiveness [of the rivalry]," Salmon said.
"It's going to go down to the last section of the game.
"Both teams will be out on their feet at stages so we have to work hard because we know they're going to bring their best game."
"We'll be ready for it."
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