HE'S got experience, he's got the play making skills and he knows how to inspire, but Bathurst Bulldogs five-eighth Scott Johnston also has a hamstring issue.
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Just how well he recovers from that hamstring complaint will be important as the finals of the Blowes Cup are just over a fortnight away.
Bulldogs head into this Saturday's penultimate round match against Forbes sitting fourth on the ladder. If they beat the Platypi they will be assured of finals football.
This year's shortened season format means all sides in the top four will face a sudden death semi-final, but those that rank in the top two will get a home ground advantage for that must win match.
Bulldogs, who have the final round bye, are just four points outside that top two. So the question is does Johnston play against Forbes or give himself more time to recover for a possible semi-final?
The Bathurst side certainly feels it when he's absent.
"Losing Scott hurt, he's been the fulcrum of a lot of our attack, he's just been a calming influence for us," coach Matt McRobert said after the Emus match.
"He's an incredibly experienced player and we miss his calming influence."
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Still, even without Johnston Bulldogs showed good signs in that match against the undefeated Emus.
Bulldogs were the first side to score more than one try in a match against the Emus this season and only went down by five points after at one stage trailing 17-0.
In the second half when Bulldogs were pushing for a try which would have locked things up, they pushed a pass which went to ground. Emus scooped up the ball and ran away to score a try against the flow of play.
That moment proved telling.
"I mean the difference was five points and then Harry Cummins scored a really good try against the run of play. Well done to them, they punished our mistake in the worst possibly way and that was the difference," McRobert said.
"We don't give them that start, we respect the ball more in the back half of the game we win, but that's easy to say.
"We are pretty positive about our effort, but our execution wasn't great, so we've got to do a lot of work."
