Troubled youngster Moses Suli is set to make his anticipated NRL debut for Manly with the club upgrading him from a development player to a full-time contract.
Suli, who had been sacked already by the Wests Tigers and Canterbury, was named by Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett on Tuesday, but needed to be moved into their 30-man roster to be allowed to play.
The upgrade on Wednesday allows Manly to field regular centre Dylan Walker at five-eighth and overlook controversial playmaker Jackson Hastings to take on the Sydney Roosters.
Barrett spoke last week about not wanting to be rushed into filling the final two positions in his 30-man squad, but that was before Lachlan Croker headlined the latest round of serious injuries at Brookvale.
The development is also the latest in a headline few months for Suli, who was released from big-dollar deals at the Tigers and the Bulldogs for failing to reach team standards.
He has since broken through 22 tackles and scored two tries in four NSW Cup games for Manly's feeder club Blacktown Workers.
Hastings hasn't played for Manly since last month's disastrous trip to Gladstone and has spent the past three games playing for Blacktown as the club's woes continue.
He was named in the No.19 jersey, but appeared unlikely to play, given he did not train with the team on Tuesday before Wednesday's day off.
Teammate and NRL state of mind ambassador Joel Thompson backed Barrett's selections but said Hastings' welfare had to be kept in mind.
"No one wants to see players that come under pressure from media and different stuff like that," Thompson said.
"Myself and other players made sure we got in touch with him and made sure he was okay.
"I'm not best mates with Hasto but made sure he's okay, made sure he had our support there if he needed it. He will come out of it. He'll be fine and he'll learn a lot from it."
