St George Illawarra have opted to rest representative forward Tyson Frizell for their important clash with the Raiders in Canberra on Friday night.
Frizell will line-up for NSW in the State of Origin series decider against Queensland in Brisbane on Wednesday night and, given the 25-year-old has been battling a rib injury, Dragons coach Paul McGregor has chosen not to risk his star back-rower.
The Dragons have also rested Euan Aitken who has hamstring soreness. The Country Origin centre has only recently returned from a serious hamstring injury.
Taane Milne has replaced Aitken in the centres, with Tariq Sims to fill in for Frizell in the back-row.
Josh McCrone returns at halfback as part of a number of changes for the Dragons with Kurt Mann shifting back to the wing. Paul Vaughan has also been named on the bench and could return from a calf injury.
St George Illawarra’s other NSW representative Josh Dugan has been named on an extended bench and will play depending on how he gets through the Origin decider.
Meanwhile, Cronulla have named James Segeyaro on the bench, with the hooker a chance to return from a broken arm in the Sharks’ clash with the Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday night. Segeyaro has been out since he suffered the injury in round six against Melbourne.
Fa’amanu Brown remains at hooker, while the Sharks’ Origin stars Valentine Holmes, Andrew Fifita, James Maloney, Jack Bird and Wade Graham have all been named in Shane Flanagan’s starting side.
