Merritt was forced to watch most of Saturday night's 26-6 season opening loss to Bathurst Panthers from the sideline after sustaining what he believes to be a rib cartilage injury.

It came as a blow to the Saints as front rower Merritt's strong runs and work in defence had seen his side pressuring in the opening quarter of the match at Jack Arrow Oval.

Merritt did return to the field in the second half, but it was only briefly as the injury again forced him off the field.

"It's my rib cartilage, I think it's just busted," he said.

"I came off I think at about the 25^th minute and yeah it was frustrating.

"After half-time I came back on, I think it was with probably 35 minutes to go. I wanted to come on and change the game or try and lift us and get a bit of momentum but my first touch wasn't any good.

"As soon as I went to step it was just too much."

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The Saints will be hoping the injury is not serious enough to keep Merritt sidelined, but if he has torn the cartilage the skipper could find himself watching more games from the bench instead of leading by example on the field.

Saturday's loss highlights the Saints still have areas to work on, but it was by no means a game without positives.

Panthers did most of their damage in a nine-minute period, putting on 20 points prior to half-time.

But the Saints lifted after that onslaught and in the second half both sides had a converted try apiece, Merritt's men get back into the arm-wrestle against the two-times defending premiers.

"There's a lot to work on, and we'll see where it goes," Merritt said. "I'm taking a lot out of it, especially for our defence."

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