New recruit Dean Collis is confident he can recover from a knee injury in time to make his Cronulla debut in round one of the NRL season.

The former Wests Tigers centre, extended his right knee in the Sharks' trial match loss to Manly at Toyota Stadium on Friday night, but is expected to take to the same field against Melbourne on March 13.

Collis joined the majority of established players in sitting out the first half of the pre-season hitout before coming on to play the final 40 minutes as the Sea Eagles prevailed 18-4.

The 24-year-old heard a click as he fell awkwardly out of a tackle in the second stanza, the injury occurring to the same right knee he seriously injured in 2008.

Collis managed just 11 games for the Tigers last year because of a broken arm, and was looking forward to a fresh start and an opportunity to shine in Cronulla's backline.

"First game for a new club, it would have been nice to have a good start to the year, but I don't know the full extent of it yet so we'll just wait and see how it goes over the next couple of days," Collis told AAP.

"I'm not really sure how bad it is, but it doesn't feel too bad at the moment, so fingers crossed it'll be right for week one.

"I've been jumping out of my skin this year, the pre-season's been really good and we've trained so hard over the last three or so months.

"It's unfortunate to be injured, but I think we got a lot out of the trial and there are some positive signs for the club."

The news wasn't so great for Cronulla local product, Stewart Mills, who had to be stretchered from the field after also injuring his right knee in the first half.

Mills, a 19-year-old Engadine junior, was in line to make his NRL debut this season, is now facing the prospect of not playing again in 2010.

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