Luke Keary is set to give the Sydney Roosters a much-needed shot in the arm after being named to make his NRL return against Canterbury.
Keary was kept in cotton wool for his side's first-up loss against the Wests Tigers due to a broken jaw suffered in a pre-season training mishap last month.
However he will return against the Bulldogs on Friday night where he will partner Cooper Cronk for the first time.
Trent Robinson's side came into the season as red-hot premiership favourites however their 10-8 defeat to the lightly-rated Tigers heaped pressure on them.
Elsewhere, North Queensland playmaker Michael Morgan is an outside chance to return from an abdominal strain for Friday's Queensland derby against Brisbane.
After missing last week's win over Cronulla, Morgan has been named on an extended bench to face the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
Cowboys coach Paul Green played down the likelihood of his star half running onto the field alongside Johnathan Thurston but said he would be given until game day.
"He's still a chance but more than likely he won't be playing," Green said.
"We'll give him until Thursday. It's about being able to train freely and pulling up well the next day, it's one of those injuries that you just don't know how they're going to recover.
"You might feel alright when you do a bit but they can pull up pretty sore. The risk is if you push them too hard too early they drag on for quite a while."
Andrew McCullough has been named to start for the Broncos after being eased back from injury off the bench last week.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has named Valentine Holmes at fullback but could yet move Josh Dugan to the back for Thursday's local derby with St George Illawarra.
Ex-South Sydney winger Aaron Gray comes into the side for injured rookie Sione Katoa.
Melbourne legend Billy Slater has been named to return from a shoulder strain and will line up for his 300th match, against the Wests Tigers on Saturday.
Young gun Adam Doueihi has got the nod ahead of Robbie Farah to replace injured halfback Adam Reynolds (knee), who is set to miss at least a month.
Manly have dropped centre Matthew Wright for Brad Parker while former Roosters half Jackson Hastings has been named on the interchange bench in place of Lewis Brown.
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