St George Illawarra five-eighth Jamie Soward has backed the Dragons' depth to cover for the expected long-term absence of the injured Michael Weyman.

The prop is still awaiting the results of scans on his troublesome groin after lasting just 17 minutes before going down awkwardly in a tackle in Monday night's upset loss to Cronulla.

The Dragons aren't confident they'll have the former NSW Origin front rower - who underwent off-season surgery on his groin - back on deck any time soon, but Soward said the side could ill-afford to bemoan his absence.

"Mick's a great player and he's obviously a leader of our forward pack and our team, but if he doesn't play, we can't be thinking about Mick," Soward said.

"We're missing Youngy (Dean Young) as well who's a leader ... someone else needs to put their hand up."

That man appears to be new recruit David Gower, who was named to make his NRL debut in the run-on side against the Warriors on Sunday.

But while Gower may be the direct replacement for Weyman, the pressure is sure to fall on first-choice props Dan Hunt and Trent Merrin to lift their workload.

Soward said the premiers were under no illusions as to the difficulty of defending their title as they go up against motivated opponents on weekly basis.

The Warriors' desperation will be even greater this week after two tight losses to open the season as the Dragons continue battling their way through a torrid start to the season.

With their round five clash against Canterbury moved to the SCG, the Dragons won't play at home until round eight as their home grounds at Kogarah and Wollongong continue undergoing redevelopments.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy defending the premiership, but in saying that we just got out-enthused," Soward said of the 16-10 loss to Cronulla.

"Opposition teams are going to fire up every week and especially Cronulla at their home ground, they were always going to fire up against us.

"We always knew it was going to be a tough first month, especially on the road.

"Next week we go to the Warriors who are 0-2 and they're going to be just as pumped up as Cronulla were."

Weyman may not be the only absentee for the Dragons at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday with backrower Beau Scott charged with dangerous contact following a chicken wing tackle on Ben Pomeroy.

Scott will miss one week whether he takes the early guilty plea of unsuccessfully contests the charge at the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night.

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