Joe Walsh, who is set to return from a shoulder injury in time for the NPC, has also signed providing another quality loosehead option.
Young tight-head Nico Manaena is another locked-in, but Manaena is still learning his craft and developing into an NPC quality prop.
Shaun Stodart is a contender, but he could be ruled out for the rest of the year because of a hand injury.
The tight-head propping depth was particularly concerning.
“If we were to lose Siate [Tokolahi] we could be in real trouble,” MacLeod said.
There were not a lot of propping options within Southland and those who could potentially play at the NPC level, MacLeod said they probably have not put in the required work to be genuine options.