Shaun Timmins' side has been decimated by injuries that have forced him to use every member of his extended squad - and then some - to stay in the finals race.

Skipper Daniel Meafou headlines a list of fresh unavailabilities this week as his side looks to bounce back from a 46-16 touch-up at the hands of the Bulldogs last week.

It was the first time the Steelers have copped consecutive losses this season, with a strong 4-0 start keeping them hovering on the edge of the top six with one game to go.

A win over the 15th-placed Bears at Collegians on Saturday would seal a finals berth and an all-important week off ahead of week one of the playoffs.

Halfback Kade Reed, himself only recently returned from a broken hand, says his side simply must find a way no matter who's wearing the jumper.

"It's a contact sport so obviously stuff like this is going to happen and we've just got that next man up mentality," Reed said.

"We knew at some point everyone in the squad was probably going to be needed and it's definitely the case this week.

"We're always going to be confident going into any game and the boys that are stepping in are going to do a good job.

"They've been there before and we know what we've got to do. We can't think about [who's not there], we've just got to get out there and do what we do.

"We've got quality in this side and we've got a lot of points in this side. Once we hold on to the ball and get through our sets, we're hard to stop.

"We're just going to keep it simple and not try and over complicate anything."

It's something the Steelers admittedly couldn't do against the Bulldogs last week, with Reed saying they let a hefty Bulldogs pack get away from them early.

"Their season was on the line, if they lost they were out of finals contention, so they came out hard," Reed said.

"They're big boys and they just went through the middle. We didn't stop them in the first set and then we just couldn't get the ball back and they kept scoring.

"We got a bit of momentum back at the start of the second half, but we just gave it back to them.

"They're a quality side and they're big side, so they're hard to stop once they get a rolling."

The Bears are not fighting for their finals prospects having managed just the one win this season, but the visitors will be licking their lips at the prospect of finishing the season with a big scalp at Collegians.

Reed said his side will need to focus on the 70 minutes in front of it, and not what's at stake beyond it.

"We've got to just focus on this week and not focus on the semis at the moment," Reed said.

"They've got nothing to lose and we've got everything to lose. We know they're going to come down trying to spoil us, so we've just got to focus on ourselves.

"We get a week off [if we make the semis] and we we should get a few back after that, but we've just got to focus on this week."