St George Illawarra's injury woes have deepened with four more big names ruled out of NRL action for extended periods.

Fullback and co-captain Ben Hornby (calf) is expected to miss four weeks, second-rower Ashton Sims (knee) 4-6 weeks and five-eighth Dean Young (knee) 6-8 weeks.

Winger Brett Morris was also ruled out for an indefinite period with a shoulder injury he suffered playing Premier League on the weekend.

Sims and Morris will have arthroscope examinations on Tuesday, with the worst-case scenario for Morris a shoulder reconstruction.

The news is most worrying for Young who underwent a knee reconstruction last year and endured a horrendous rehabilitation, requiring several more operations to fully recover.

A Dragons official said there was a possibility an infection in Young's left knee, which hindered his comeback, could have been reactivated.

After playing just three games for the Dragons this year, he will return to a rehabilitation program to strengthen the muscles around the knee.

Elsewhere, in-form Melbourne NRL fullback Billy Slater will be sidelined for six weeks after undergoing surgery to insert two plates in his face.

Storm physio Mary Toomey said investigations revealed two cheekbone fractures from his collision with teammate Sam Tagatese during the Storm's one-point loss to Manly in their top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.

Sea Eagles cult hero George Rose will have a second operation on his right ankle after suffering an horrific injury in the same match.

Giant prop Rose suffered a season-ending compound fracture to his fibula and a bad tear to his deltoid ligament when his ankle was twisted sideways in a tackle.

He underwent a three-hour operation after midnight on Sunday morning and now requires a second round of surgery to reduce the risk of infection.

And, days after sparking fears he had suffered a career-threatening neck injury, North Queensland veteran Paul Bowman is considered an outside chance of playing for the Cowboys against the Sharks on Saturday night.

Bowman will know the full extent of the injury on Tuesday after undergoing scans.

It would be a remarkable turnaround for Bowman who was stretchered off the field in a neck brace in the first half of North Queensland's 26-16 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night.

"We've all got our fingers crossed that everything will turn out okay, we are cautiously optimistic," Cowboys chief executive Peter Parr said.

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