At a certain point, you’ve just got to shake your head and laugh.
South Sydney didn’t even have an 18th man on the bench, such is the extent of their current injury crisis, during their 60-14 rout at the hands of a rampant Brisbane side that was still licking its wounds from an upset loss against Parramatta last week.
The injury-ravaged Rabbitohs held up their gloves right through to half-time as they tried to go toe-to-toe with an amped up Reece Walsh and Co., who were clearly out for blood.
Yet, in the end, the walls came crumbling down at Wayne Bennett’s former fortress, Suncorp Stadium.
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'Who cares?': Wayne Bennett and Souths find the funny amid absurd injury crisis
After Souths trailed by just 10 points at the break and with the looming threat of another shock result, Michael Maguire’s side kicked into gear.
They ran in seven tries and clocked 42 points during a comprehensive second half demolition job as the fight quickly and understandably drained out of the Bunnies.
"I was waiting for that to happen," a surprisingly jovial Bennett said post-match.
"We’ve been up for a long time and we’ve been battling every week and they’ve been giving it everything they’ve got, but I just knew we’d run out of gas.
"These guys have been up for too long. Young guys who are not experienced in playing NRL. They just hit the wall tonight and the Broncos were on and deserved their victory."
The Bunnies’ unprecedented injury crisis, which Bennett noted was now the worst he had experienced during his near 40-year coaching career, has been laid bare for the past several weeks. But it’s worth repeating.
The visitors were without the likes of Latrell Mitchell, Campbell Graham, Cody Walker, Brandon Smith, Tevita Tatola, Keaon Koloamatangi and Cameron Murray.
Yet the hits just keep on coming.
Ryan Gray, Jamie Humphreys and Peter Mamouzelos were all confined to the casualty ward either during or in the build-up to the Round 22 clash.
"We lost three players in the past 24 hours, so we were down to 13 first graders not playing tonight," Bennett said.
"We didn’t even have an 18th man," Bennett revealed to chuckles from the club’s sixth captain of the season, Jai Arrow.
"[Peter] pulled out before the game because he had a headache from a concussion two weeks ago.
"Ten minutes into the game we lost our hooker," the coach added. "Anyway, that’s our lot and we’ve got to re-group."
The Rabbitohs have four games remaining in their season as they now desperately try to avoid the wooden spoon.
If they are unable to do so, it will mark the first time a Bennett-coached side has been anchored to the bottom of the NRL ladder.
However, the 75-year-old cut a laidback figure in the press conference as he outlined how the club could welcome back a stack of talent in the coming weeks.
Walker is one of those who could be lacing up the boots again to try and pitch in, with the playmaker on the comeback trail.
"Who cares?" Arrow joked when the question was put to Bennett about the five-eighth’s impending return.
"Yeah, that’s right, who cares?" Bennett laughed.
"There are probably seven or eight of them who have a chance to come back before the end of the season."