The Canberra Raiders have been dealt a blow to their forward stocks with Pasami Saulo ruled out of Friday night's game against the Dragons, forcing coach Ricky Stuart to call-up two forwards from NSW Cup.
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With Saulo out, lock Corey Horsburgh on Queensland Origin duties and Josh Papali'i still rehabbing his hamstring injury and not expected back until after the bye in round 21, the Raiders had a pack re-shuffle this week.
Ata Mariota backs up from his start last week against the Titans at lock, with New Zealand international Joe Tapine wearing the No.10 jersey and Emre Guler in Papali'i's spot.
Trey Mooney and Peter Hola were named on the bench alongside rotational hooker Tom Starling and outside back Nick Cotric, with Matt Frawley 18th man.
The rest of the team remains unchanged from the Titans clash, with Hudson Young's shock omission from the NSW Blues squad a win for the Raiders as he too returns in Wollongong.
Mooney, 21, will be playing his second game of the year after his debut last season.
Meanwhile Hola is making his second appearance in first grade for 2023, though he'll be hoping to get more minutes against the Dragons than he did in his round 14 Raiders 'debut' against the Tigers where he wasn't used at all from the bench.
"This is Trey and Peter's chance to show their teammates that you're ready," Stuart said of the pair's selection.
"Hopefully Peter gets more opportunity this time to make his proper Raiders debut."
Though initially thought to be a category two concussion, Saulo actually suffered a category one concussion in Canberra's nail-biting 26-22 win over the Gold Coast Titans last Saturday.
The diagnosis has forced him to sit out Raiders training and games for 11 days after his concussion.
"I'm all good, I'm just gutted I won't get to play," Saulo told The Canberra Times.
"But I'll just take it as positive to get my head right and come back better."
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Saulo backed the depth at the Raiders to be able to plug the holes left in the squad, and continue their winning form in Wollongong before the bye.
"Peter Hola and Trey Mooney have been training really well and they can do the job," Saulo said.
"Ata has been outstanding. He's doing his part and leading with his actions so it's good to see."
Saulo has made the most of his opportunity at the Raiders after joining the club in pre-season from the Knights.
In Newcastle since making his debut in 2018 he'd only played 27 NRL games, and the most he'd had in a season was 11, while in Canberra he's already played 16 games this year.
"I've found Canberra really enjoyable and loved it ever since I got here," Saulo said. "I find I fit in really well with the players and staff.
"Being around experienced players like Paps and Taps [Papali'i and Tapine] is definitely one of the main reasons I wanted to come here, because those really good players have helped my game."
NRL ROUND 19
Friday: St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders at Wollongong, 8pm.
Canberra Raiders: 1. Sebastian Kris, 2. Albert Hopoate, 3. Jarrod Croker (C), 4. Matt Timoko, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Emre Guler, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (C), 13. Ata Mariota. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Trey Mooney, 16. Nick Cotric, 17. Peter Hola. Reserves: 18. Matt Frawley, 19. Danny Levi, 20. Hohepa Puru, 21. Xavier Savage, 22. Clay Webb.
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