Australian rugby's hooker crisis delivered a cruel blow to the Canberra Vikings on Saturday, striking down Lala Lam and Mitch Wade in a brutal National Rugby Championship clash in Sydney.
The Vikings held on for a 37-37 draw with the Will Skelton-led Sydney Stars in a 10-try thriller in which three players were sin-binned and Canberra limped home with a growing injury toll, including Robbie Coleman and Tim Cree.
The ACT Brumbies lost hookers Stephen Moore and Siliva Siliva to season-ending injuries while the Wallabies have called in Australia's ninth-string hooker Josh Mann-Rea to bolster their ranks.
The rake curse hit the Vikings when rookie prop Joel Penders was thrown into the position for the second half against the Stars with Lam suffering a head knock and Wade injuring his bicep.
Coach Dan McKellar will be forced to call on Canberra's club rugby ranks just to have a recognised hooker in his line-up against Melbourne next week.
Royals front-rower Penders has been training with Canberra for only a week and hasn't played as a hooker for five years but he stepped into the role against Wallabies props Paddy Ryan and Laurie Weeks.
"I've been playing for 12 years and I've had periodic goes at hooker, but I haven't been solid there since 2009," Penders said.
"I was called into the squad on Monday. I don't mind playing hooker so if I can improve my mobility then I'll definitely play there if that's what they need."
Coleman left Sydney on crutches while Cree suffered a head knock in the clash which was expected to be dominated by 140-kilogram Skelton, who was axed from the Wallabies squad last week.
The NSW Waratahs lock scored a try and was sin binned for repeated infringements as he launched his bid for a Test recall.
Canberra centre Rodney Iona was sin-binned in the first half for being offside while skipper Fotu Auelua was given the same punishment for a controversial shoulder charge in the second half.
"The shoulder charge, in my eyes, it was just a good hit. The bloke bounced off Fots. Aren't we allowed to make good tackles any more?" McKellar said.
"Fots is a big man and if you run into him high, you'll get sat on your backside. It wasn't a shoulder charge, he just didn't have time to get his hands up.
"The injuries and two guys in the sin bin ... we had nothing left in the tank, but I'm proud of how gutsy the guys were."
The Vikings dominated the set piece early, despite the Stars pack boasting Ryan, Weeks and Skelton, but every time the visitors threatened to cruise to a win, the Stars clawed their way back into the contest.
Sydney winger Jono Sullivan scored with 20 seconds to go to end Canberra's hopes of securing a third consecutive win.
"The Stars were good enough to sneak a try on full-time. It's not the result we wanted but it was gutsy. The injuries are a nightmare at the moment, especially with the hookers," McKellar said.
AT A GLANCE
Saturday: CANBERRA VIKINGS 37 (Sean Doyle, Fotu Auelua, Lausii Taliauli, Jesse Mogg, JP Smith tries; Jesse Mogg 4 conversions) drew with SYDNEY STARS 37 (Hugo Dessens, Patrick McCutcheon, Jack Macklin, Will Skelton, Jono Sullivan tries; Jack Macklin 4 conversions)
