Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has shuffled his pack with some shock selections in a bid to combat the short turnaround against the Manly Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.
Gun recruit Junior Paulo was named on the bench, provided the NRL rubber stamps his transfer in time, while young forwards Joe Tapine and Luke Bateman have been named in the starting XIII.
Brenko Lee comes in for winger Edrick Lee (hamstring), lock Shaun Fensom has been rested and prop Jeff Lima was omitted.
Front-rower Paul Vaughan drops to the bench where he's joined by the incoming Clay Priest.
Queensland's Josh Papalii has been named in the second row, providing he pulls up well from Wednesday night's State of Origin.
Paulo trained with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday after the Parramatta Eels released him on the weekend.
England international Elliott Whitehead was expecting his new teammate to "eat the metres up" when he makes his debut for his new team – expected to be against Manly.
He said the Raiders had learnt from their five-day turnaround earlier in the season, with the medical staff adjusting the program this week, as they look to win three games in a row for the first time in 2016.
They struggled against Parramatta on a five-day turnaround after an impressive win against the Bulldogs earlier in the season.
"[Paulo will] be a great addition to our squad. He's a big boy and he can eat the metres up down the middle," Whitehead said.
"He's good in defence as well. He'll definitely be a great addition."
Whitehead said the Origin period was an opportunity for the Raiders to cement their spot in the top eight.
The Raiders only have Papalii playing Origin and the second row is an area where they have plenty of depth.
Sia Soliola made a brilliant return from a broken arm in the 32-20 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday, scoring a try.
"As you saw, Sia came in on the weekend and did a great job. He played 80 minutes, I think he'd been out for eight weeks, to do the job that he did was great," Whitehead said.
"If Papalii's not good on the Friday I'm sure Sia will stand in there and do a great job again."
Edrick Lee was ruled out on Tuesday after he injured his hamstring while scoring his second-half try as the Raiders ran over the top of the Bulldogs.
"It happened on the ankle tap, which is a bit unfortunate to happen. I guess injuries are all a part of rugby league, it's just a matter of how you react – do your rehab on it and come back from it," he said.
He backed the Raiders depth in the outside backs.
While Stuart named Brenko Lee, he also had Sisa Waqa and Kato Ottio to call on, while Edrick Lee said Zac Santo was also in good form for Mounties.
Lee backed Raiders fullback Jack Wighton, who turned round his first-half struggles to help Canberra knock off the Bulldogs.
He said Stuart had told them not to allow errors to put them off their game.
"One thing Ricky always asks us is if we do make an error or do something wrong on the field it's what your next action is on the field [that's important]," Lee said.
"Jack moved on from that straight away and he managed to get us back in the game with a few good shots and his vision to find players.
"He's been working hard, Jack, this whole year and I'm sure something's just around the corner for him."
NRL ROUND 13
Friday: Canberra Raiders v Manly Sea Eagles at Canberra Stadium, 7.50pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Raiders team: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Brenko Lee, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Shannon Boyd, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Josh Papalii, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Luke Bateman, 14. Kurt Baptiste, 15. Sia Soliola, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Paul Vaughan, 19. Junior Paulo.
