St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett is adamant his side can overcome a crippling State of Origin time injury toll that threatens to derail the club's bid for back-to-back NRL minor premierships.

The Dragons were beaten 21-14 by Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium with the home side benefitting from a mixture of evergreen Darren Lockyer's brilliance and young centre Jack Reed's raw-boned enthusiasm.

Cracks are beginning to appear in the joint venture club with the Broncos loss coming after the Dragons were kept to a draw against Parramatta.

Dragons' skipper Ben Hornby was the latest to join the growing casualty ward, suffering a knock early in his return game from an ankle injury and forced to sit with his foot in a bucket of ice for the entire second half.

Bennett is hopeful of getting the playmaker back for next week's blockbuster against Manly, but conceded time - and luck - might not be on their sides.

"There's nothing major with it but there's a fair bit of pain involved. Maybe a week, two weeks," he said.

"He's a pretty important bloke, but we lost him. We'll just have to get on with it."

The loss of Hornby could not have come at a worse time, with Origin forwards Beau Scott (medial ligament, perforated ear drum) and Ben Creagh (ankle) still at least two weeks away from returning to action.

Flying winger Brett Morris is still struggling to overcome a hamstring injury that has kept him out for three weeks and veteran Dean Young's ongoing knee problems continue to cause the club angst.

"It's a bit of everything, it's just running against us right now," Bennett said.

"It'll turn, it'll turn."

Utility Nathan Fien, who deputised for Hornby at both halfback and captain, said there were no excuses despite the injury toll and that it was up to the replacements to stand up.

"It's not an issue for us, we've got great depth at the club," he said.

"Any number of us can step in there. We're not the only ones with players backing up and we don't really have any excuses."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP