Penrith have named Nathan Cleary to face the Sydney Roosters, with the star halfback firmly on track to return for the start of the finals.
Cleary on Tuesday headlined a list of big-name returnees across the league, with Manly also naming Tom Trbojevic and Melbourne listing Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Trbojevic and Papenhuyzen are considered certain starters against Canterbury and Cronulla respectively, while all attention will remain on Cleary at Penrith.
The halfback tested out his injured shoulder against Penrith’s NSW Cup players on Monday, his heaviest work out since hurting his shoulder three weeks ago.
He is expected to participate in another opposed session on Wednesday before Penrith make a final call on his availability for Friday’s qualifying final.
Panthers teammates are also confident he will have no issue finding form immediately after kicking a match-winning field goal against the Dolphins on his last return from injury.
“If there’s any guy in the game that’s going to get back and be in good form, I think it’s him,” halves partner Jarome Luai said.
“We’re all backing him in.
“He’s ticking all the right boxes. You know what he’s like, he’ll do whatever he can to make sure he’s fit and ready. He hasn’t missed a beat so I’m backing him in.”
Penrith could have been tempted to hold Cleary back another week for a knockout final, but co-captain Isaah Yeo suggested that would not be the right approach.
“You just put all your focus into this. It’s a big, big game,” Yeo said.
“We’ve had to do it the other way where we’ve lost the first semi (in 2021) and had to go through the elimination and the prelim and that sort of stuff.
“It’s a lot better route winning the first week and having the week off.
“Obviously it’d be nice to have him out there, he’s obviously shown in limited games this season how important he is to us.”
The Roosters have named Dom Young, Daniel Tupou, Nat Butcher and Lindsay Collins to return for the BlueBet Stadium clash.
Melbourne have Papenhuyzen and prop Christian Welch returning for their qualifying final against Cronulla, who welcome Oregon Kaufusi back to their front row.
Jordan McLean is also back for North Queensland in their elimination final against Newcastle in Townsville, with the Knights unchanged.
Canterbury have named Jeral Skelton as the winger to replace Josh Addo-Carr, who stood himself down following his alleged positive roadside drug test for cocaine.
Matt Burton is also back from concussion and will play in the halves for the Bulldogs in their elimination final against Manly.
And while the Sea Eagles have named Trbojevic at fullback for the clash after his grade-three AC joint tear, they will remain without Jason Saab (ankle) for at least one more week.
