Kurtley Beale joined the lengthening injury list of NSW Waratahs strike weapons, but fellow Wallabies back Berrick Barnes could return for Saturday's Super Rugby home clash with Melbourne.

Beale (knee) went for a scan on Monday, along with two key forwards, skipper and openside flanker Phil Waugh and No.8 Wycliff Palu, who aggravated old niggles during Saturday's loss to Queensland in Brisbane.

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey said he believed Beale hurt his medial ligament in the first half of the game.

While he hoped it wasn't serious, Hickey said if it was it could lead to a revamp of a Waratahs backline already missing wingers Drew Mitchell and Atieli Pakalani and centre Rob Horne.

"We've lost quite a few of our backs, it's a situation where we're shuffling players a little bit in terms of positions, so the outcome of Kurtley's scan and his availability would certainly force us into a situation where we would have to reselect the team," Hickey told reporters on Monday.

Barnes, who has missed the last four games after suffering a second head knock this season, trained with the team on Monday and was a chance to play on Saturday, according to Hickey.

"Part of his clearance to return to play is that he can complete the training and he feels good after training," Hickey said.

"At this stage we've got our fingers crossed that everything will go well for him during the week.

"Berrick was basically cleared medically a couple of weeks ago, with all the testing, all the MRI scans etc.

"Our main concern has been around how he feels personally and he'll see our doctor on Thursday just to confirm that he's feeling well and he's ready to return."

NSW called up former Brumbies and Waratahs fullback-winger Ben Batger and uncapped hooker Ben Roberts to train with the Waratahs this week.

"I think we've used 31 players this year which is the total we used last year and it's not so much the numbers that you use, but the number who are out from the starting XV and particularly those players like Drew Mitchell nd Cliffy Palu, who are a big influence on the game," Hickey said.

"We spoke at the start of the year about the depth of the squad that we've built.

"We've got great confidence despite all the injuries that we've taken, we'll have a team on Saturday against the Rebels that will be more than capable of getting the job done for us."

In one piece of positive fitness news following the brutal game in Brisbane, Hickey said first-choice hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau pulled up well and showed no residual symptoms after suffering a head knock.

Hickey defiantly insisted NSW could still win the Australian conference despite falling 11 points behind Queensland following last Saturday's loss.

"We have now got five of our last seven games at home and Queensland have got some challenging games in front of them," Hickey said.

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