Canberra Raiders hooker Glen Buttriss will attempt to make a miracle return for Sunday's clash with St George Illawarra after being a shock selection for the WIN Stadium game yesterday.
Buttriss was wearing a knee brace yesterday after sustaining a grade one medial ligament tear in his right knee during the Raiders' loss to the Melbourne Storm on Sunday.
But coach Neil Henry has given him until Friday to prove his fitness.
''He is some chance,'' Henry said. ''He's got the brace on to stabilise it for a few days and he'll do some straight-line running on Thursday and then we'll see how he pulls up Friday.''
If Buttriss fails to play Ryan Hinchcliffe will move into the starting side, while former Queensland back-rower Neville Costigan will move onto the bench.
Costigan hasn't played an NRL game since tearing his quadriceps in round one, but has been impressive for Queensland Cup side Souths Logan for the past three weeks.
If Costigan does return it will add firepower to a Raiders forward pack the Dragons are wary of.
Dragons halfback Ben Hornby is expecting the Raiders forwards to attempt to intimidate the home side.
''Their forwards are where they'll try and bash you up a bit,'' Hornby said.
''They'll try and intimidate and put effort on you and you've got to respond to that.
''But the last few weeks we've been able to compete with sides, our forward pack has been going well.''
Raiders back Adrian Purtell is also in doubt with an ankle injury, with Justin Carney on standby.
Dragons coach Nathan Brown yesterday welcomed NSW stars Matt Cooper and Mark Gasnier back into his side, while dual-international Wendell Sailor has been dropped despite a strong performance against Newcastle last week.
Halfback Todd Carney will again captain the Raiders, with regular skipper Alan Tongue still sidelined with a rib injury.
Henry yesterday called on Carney to have more influence on the team.
''He needs to be a bit more involved in the game,'' Henry said.
''His kicking game he has acknowledged needs to be a bit better with a couple of choices there and he needs to get his running game in order.
''He's at his best when he's taking the line on.''
The Dragons are brimming with confidence after seven straight wins and are now firmly entrenched in the top eight.
Henry wasn't surprised with the Dragons' mid-season resurgence.
''Browny has had a good playing roster there and I think it was just a matter of once they clicked and got a bit of confidence that they could get on a roll.
''They've been playing some great footy and they're getting close to full strength so we'll need to be good down there.''
The Raiders beat the Dragons by seven points at Canberra Stadium in round three and have won seven of their past eight matches against the joint-venture club.
But the Dragons thrashed the Raiders by 42 points at WIN Stadium last year.
Henry was confident centres Joel Monaghan and Marshall Chalk could shut Gasnier and Cooper out of the game.
SUNDAY
NRL Round 18: St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders at WIN Stadium, 2pm. TV Time: Live on Fox Sports2.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff