The Canberra Raiders have dropped Blake Austin for their clash against the Canterbury Bulldogs, paving the way for forgotten half Sam Williams to play his first game in three months on Saturday night.
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Raiders coach Ricky Stuart reshuffled his team after another heartbreaker last weekend, which has left their season dangling by the last thread.
Williams returns to the starting team, Austin shifts to the bench in a utility role and Siliva Havili moves into lock to fill the void left by Queensland State of Origin forward Josh Papalii. Brad Abbey retains the fullback job in Jack Wighton's absence.
Williams hasn't played an NRL game since he damaged the medial ligament in his knee against the Bulldogs in round five at the start of April.
The 27-year-old started the season as Canberra's first-choice halves partner to Aidan Sezer, but has been biding his time in reserve grade after injury struck in the early rounds.
His return forces Austin to remove to the bench as the playmaker weighs up his future in Canberra. Austin has been linked to the Parramatta Eels or a move to the UK Super League at the end of the season.
"Blake is one of my good mates and in due course he’ll make the best decision for him and his family," Sezer said.
Sezer backed hooker Josh Hodgson to continue his stellar return from a knee reconstruction in his second start back for the Green Machine.
"Hodgy is a world-class player, it’s good to have him in there and he really dictates things around the ruck and he’s good as a half," Sezer said.
"He takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders and gets the boys around and gets us to good field positions."
The Raiders are clinging to hope they can keep their season alive despite surrendering a 16-point lead against the Brisbane Broncos last week.
The Raiders are ninth on the ladder, but they are six points outside the top eight and need to win almost every game if they want to return to the play-offs.
Wighton's immediate playing future remains unclear, with the Raiders board expected to meet on Friday after the fullback returns to the ACT Magistrates Court. Wighton has pleaded guilty to assaulting five men in a late-night brawl in Civic earlier this year.
NRL ROUND 17
Saturday: Canterbury Bulldogs v Canberra Raiders at Belmore Sports Ground, 7.30pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports.
Raiders: 1. Brad Abbey, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Michael Oldfield, 6. Sam Williams, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Dunamis Lui, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Joe Tapine, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Siliva Havili. Interchange from: 14. Blake Austin, 15. Junior Paulo, 16. Liam Knight, 17. Sia Soliola, 18. Jack Murchie, 19. Charlie Gubb, 20. Royce Hunt, 21. Craig Garvey.
