Penrith star Stephen Crichton will shift to fullback to replace injured Dylan Edwards for Thursday’s NRL clash with Manly.
Edwards has been sidelined for at least a month after fracturing his hand in last week’s last-gasp win over Melbourne.
With Crichton moving into the No.1 jersey, versatile Matt Burton will shift into the centres against the struggling Sea Eagles.
“Look it’s a great opportunity,” Isaah Yeo said about the switch.
“Steve will get his hands on the ball a lot more and, little bit of a different role for Burto, but he’s done it before for us and I’m sure he’ll do a wonderful job.”
It’ll be the first time Crichton has started at fullback in his 29-game NRL career.
The Panthers are also set to welcome back influential halfback Nathan Cleary after recovering from the head knock that ruled him out of the Storm game.
“He’s been really good,” Yeo said.
“We trained on Sunday and he was fine. Obviously be nice to have him back.”
In other early team news, Brisbane captain Alex Glenn says the Broncos are excited to have their engine room back for Friday’s clash with the Storm.
While the exact location of the fixture remains uncertain with the Broncos having shifted to Sydney following Brisbane’s snap COVID lockdown, Glenn said both Payne Haas and Matt Lodge would be returning from suspension and injury respectively.
Haas missed the first three matches of the year after an off-field incident with police during the pre-season but Glenn is adamant the NSW State of Origin representative is ready to deliver.
“Payno is ready to go bro, he is ready to go. He always is. He’s been itching to get out on the field the last three weeks,” Glenn said.