DAVID FA’ALOGO could be facing another extended spell on the sidelines.

After making a rock-solid start to the Super League XVI season when he played in the opening six rounds, the former New Zealand back-row forward has again suffered a major hamstring injury setback.

The 30-year-old missed a large chunk of last year with the problem.

But after an excellent pre-season – his first with the Giants – it looked as if he’d put his injury woes behind him, especially after the start he made to 2011.

That, however, may now not be the case, with Fa’alogo having been restricted to just one brief Giants appearance in the last seven games when he started the Good Friday game at Crusaders.

And Giants head coach Nathan Brown admits he’s concerned.

“It’s another hamstring problem and at this stage we’re not sure how long it’s going to be,” revealed Brown.

“But he definitely won’t be back in the short term.

“Having said that, apart from David and Keith Mason (knee) and possibly Dale Ferguson – if it’s confirmed this week he broke his left hand at Catalan – we’ve had quite a reasonable run so far, so we can’t complain too much.

“And when you do have people out, it means some others will get the opportunity to show us what they can do.

“Ideally, we’d always like everyone available and give everyone a chance, but that unfortunately very rarely happens.”