Melbourne have listed injured Brett Finch at five-eighth and named England international Gareth Widdop on an extended bench for their NRL qualifying final against South Sydney on Friday night.
Widdop played his first match since dislocating his hip in June at the weekend in the secondary Queensland Cup.
With concerns over Widdop’s match fitness, veteran Finch will get the nod at No.6 if he recovers from a damaged sternoclavicular joint, though coach Craig Bellamy won’t make a final decision till later in the week.
Finch suffered the injury in the Storm’s 23-22 final round win over Gold Coast on Saturday and, although very sore, he has been cleared of any fracture.
“Finchy has improved a lot in the last 48 hours and has had a cortisone injection,” said Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy on Tuesday.
“We’ll just see how he goes and see how Gaz (Widdop) goes.
“We probably won’t make the decision until Thursday or Friday.”
Souths named the side side that started against the Roosters last week and forward Jason Clark was listed on the bench despite being helped off the field at training on Tuesday.
Manly have recalled several players, including impact forward Anthony Watmough and star fullback Brett Stewart for Saturday’s clash with minor premiers Sydney Roosters.
NSW Origin and Kangaroos star Watmough has missed the past few weeks after aggravating an existing knee complaint in the round 23 loss to South Sydney.
“A couple of weeks off has really freshened me up and I’m really hungry and ready to go,” Watmough said.
Prop Brenton Lawrence also returns to the side, along with winger Jorge Taufua, who is back after serving a two-match ban.
The Roosters welcome back winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and backrower Mitchell Aubusson into their starting lineup and forward Luke O’Donnell onto an extended bench.
They will be forced into one change after listing Jared Waerea-Hargreaves to start, prior to him getting a one-game ban after being found guilty of a dangerous contact charge on Tuesday.
North Queensland co-captain and prop Matt Scott is set to make an earlier than expected return in Saturday’s match against the Sharks after breaking his middle figure against that club in round 25.
The Queensland and Australia front rower has pushed Scott Bolton back to the bench, in the only change to the team that defeated Wests Tigers 50-22.
The Cowboys will be searching for a club record-equalling seventh straight win.
Skipper Paul Gallen, five eighth Todd Carney and backrowers Wade Graham, Jayson Bukuya and Anthony Tupou return for the Sharks.
The Canterbury Bulldogs have named fullback Ben Barba on the bench for a second straight week following his return from an ankle injury.
The Bulldogs and Newcastle have each named an unchanged starting lineup for their clash.
