I can see a major positive out of this*; it forces us to play 'small ball'.
Instead of bombing the ball into the forward line, it will make us lower our eyes, look for targets, work the ball inside 50 cleverly. Chip kicks, retaining possession, more goals from midfielders etc.
Then when Charlie and Harry are back, we have more tricks up our sleeves. If you can learn to do it tough, you should fly under easier conditions - kind of like high-altitude training....
Disclaimer: Soapy V's blue-tinted glasses were not harmed during production of this post.
If that happens that would be great, I am hoping that we become better at playing the game with more skill and athleticism as you have said but I don't see us going without tall targets up forward with our depth and at this stage I would not be expecting McKay to miss.
I would hope that we can play with a well balanced game and I hope that we can move the ball quickly and that we know when to get it in long and when to possess the ball a bit more. I think this part of our game is something that will have to evolve naturally.
Could get interesting if Silvagni, Kennedy, Casboult and Dekoning all show good form when McKay and Curnow get back. Hopefully it allows us to take a longer approach to getting them fit and we don't feel forced to bring in underdone players.
Some short/medium term injuries to tall forwards for us isn't a huge worry, we have great depth and a capability to restructure the forward line successfully. If we're the real deal we'll do what good sides do and win with what we've got.