Boom Sydney Roosters centre Kane Linnett will miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a knee injury during Sunday's 19-12 NRL loss to St George Illawarra.

The 21-year-old has medial ligament damage in his right knee after lasting just eight minutes of the epic SCG encounter.

The Roosters' other injury fears have eased with prop Jason Ryles (ribs) and back Joseph Leilua (corked quad) both possible starters against Cronulla at Toyota Stadium on Friday night.

Second-rower Mitch Aubusson (shoulder) is likely to return a week later for the round 24 clash with Gold Coast.

"That's a pretty good result after the incident, we were a bit worried about that," captain Braith Anasta said of Linnett's injury.

"A few other guys have got some niggling injuries, we could miss a few this week."

Meanwhile, Anasta has rushed to the defence of Ryles, who has again attracted criticism from some commentators.

The former Test prop gave away a penalty for his over-zealous handling of Jamie Soward in a tackle on Sunday and dropped a simple pass after a kick-off as the Roosters mounted a comeback.

"He might have given one penalty away yesterday but he's great for the rest of the game," Anasta said. "It didn't cost us.

"He's been outstanding, he's probably been one of the best buys in the competition."

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