Trindall dislocated his shoulder during Saturday's 24-20 loss to Canberra, but was an observer at training on Wednesday and hopes to return at some point this season.
His recovery timeline is unclear, but the fifth-placed Sharks will likely need to seal an all important top-four berth without their best player of 2026.
Cronulla are hopeful Trindall's return can come in time for sudden-death footy; the 27-year-old shapes as integral to their bid to improve upon consecutive preliminary final defeats.
"(The injury) is unfortunate, but it could've been worse. We'll get him back this year and that's all that matters," Sharks winger Katoa told AAP.
Katoa spends much of his downtime fishing and appearing as a compere in the club's social media content, but he will happily add masseuse to his workload if it means Trindall returning soon.
"I'll look after him, give him a bit of massage, drive to his house, give him some ice," Katoa said.
"I'll be good for him."
Backline teammate KL Iro can vouch for Katoa's massage abilities.
"He actually is pretty good, he's got some strong Tongan hands. I think he'll help him out," Iro told AAP.
The Sharks' only loss in their past eight games without Trindall was against eventual premiers Penrith in 2024, in a game when halves partner Nicho Hynes went down injured.
Cronulla overcame an injury blow to Trindall at a similar point in the 2024 season, winning both games he missed that August and locking up a top-four finish.
Coincidentally, the Sharks' first win in that fortnight without Trindall was against Gold Coast, their opponents this Sunday.
Some 16 players who featured in that spell without Trindall in late '24 are at the club and currently available for selection.
Prop Tom Hazelton is confident in Cronulla's ability to cover for their five-eighth again.
"'Obviously he'd be disappointed, but we've done it before, we take confidence out of that," Hazelton told AAP.
"We have Niwhai (Puru) to come in and he did a fantastic job for us earlier in the year when he filled in. We have full confidence that he's going to bring that."
The Sharks' five-game winning streak came to an end this month with worrying back-to-back losses to bottom-nine sides St George Illawarra and Canberra.
Hazelton said defence needed to improve for this week's trip to Queensland as they risk falling two games behind the top four with a loss.
"Points are easy to score, even on the weekend, we scored enough points to win a game and probably left a few out there," Hazelton said.
"But just some moments in defence obviously cost us and that's a lesson."
