The answer, according to ruckman David Hille, is simple. You can only try.
"Hopefully we get some good news [from the doctors] and he can get on to his recovery and get back as soon as possible," Hille said on Tuesday, the day after the Bombers defeated the Kangaroos by 55 points at Telstra Dome.
"The good thing is we do have a lot of players on the fringe looking to come in and be a part of what we're doing here.
"It's putting a lot of pressure on even the guys in the team and not just the forwards. We've got Courtney Johns and other options that we can put through our forward structure there."
The 26-year-old said the loss of Lucas, who booted 61 goals last year, will reinforce a pre-season plan to see both himself and fellow ruckman Jason Laycock spend more time in attack.
He also mooted Adam McPhee and Nathan Lovett-Murray as other alternatives to Lucas and his mighty left boot.
"I think there is more of a focus this year to get me and Jason rotating through the forward line a little bit more than we have in the last couple of years," Hille said.
"I think that may have happened regardless of Scott's injury."
Lucas will have scans on his knee later in the week, but is expected to miss at least nine weeks after injuring his posterior cruciate ligament during Monday's win.
Hille said it was pleasing for the Bombers to kick off their season with such a convincing win, particularly after the club went through so many significant changes at the end of last year.
"Aside from Kevin [Sheedy] and so on, it's good for the young players in our team to get confidence moving forward early on in the season," he said.
However, he also said there was no need to get carried away with Monday's result, despite the fact the Bombers managed an 82-point turnaround after trailing by almost five goals in the first half.
"We're still trying to build a new team, essentially," he said.
"It's only one game into the season and a couple of games from the pre-season. We're just looking to improve and try and implement slowly the new coach's game plan.
"I think that will be an on-going process for the whole season."
