The Grasshoppers suffered another injury blow on Saturday when forward Nat Nixon went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter of the loss to North Bendigo.

Colbo's four key recruits in the off-season - Daniel Connors, Ben Southam, Todd Bryant and Todd Clarke - are yet to play in the one side this year.

"I don't think we've even had three of the four play in the one game yet,'' Colbo coach Julian Bull said.

"It's such a frustrating year. I don't think I've been involved in a club that's had such bad luck in one year."

The Grasshoppers enter the second half of the season in third place with a 6-2 record.

With competition for top three spots so tight, Colbo has little room for error.

"Until the bye in three weeks we're still in a bit of strife,'' Bull said.

"Nat Nixon went down at the weekend, Jono Barnett will miss the next three weeks with work and Tom Hill is away this week as well.

"We'll operate the next three games with about nine to 10 players out.

"Depending how Daniel Connors' body is feeling, he might be able to play the next two games.

"We'll get Michael Battista back this week as well. Three players from the weekend's team will go out and we'll get two senior players back."

Through neccessity the Grasshoppers have been forced to blood players they thought weren't ready for senior footy.

The exposure to senior footy has strengthened the club's depth.

"We've found a lot, we've seen a lot and we've still managed to get the wins on the board,'' Bull said.

"If our luck can turn in the second half of the season then it holds us in good stead because we now have 34 tried and tested players.

"The structures are holding up well under those 34 players and it will just be a matter of making sure we pick the right cattle in the end to ensure we're playing at the best of our ability."

Leading into the bye, Colbo plays Elmore (home), LBU (away) and Heathcote (away).

"There's no reason why we can't win all three,'' Bull said.

"At the weekend against North Bendigo we rolled out a team that at the start of the year wouldn't have been close to our best team.

"We played a good game. It was a defensive game, it was a physical game and the only thing we lacked was forwards.

"We went forward two or three more times than North Bendigo, but with no Connors, no Battista, no Nixon, no Hon and no Hugh Hamilton - they're all our forwards.

"We just kept kicking it to Matt Riordan and hoped that he'd do the job for us."

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.