Brandon Smith in as Souths cop fresh injury blow
Smith's NRL return comes against Manly some 308 days after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in what turned out to be his last game for the Sydney Roosters.
When Smith joined Souths in May, coach Wayne Bennett flagged low expectations of the forward hitting top form on his return from injury this year.
But Bennett confirmed on Saturday the 2020 premiership winner will come on from the bench at Brookvale Oval following a leg injury to Euan Aitken.
"(Smith) is pretty excited about it all, he's trained pretty well. Everything is right for him to go," Bennett said.
Souths are still determining Aitken's return-to-play timeline as the centre becomes the latest Rabbitoh to be struck down by injury in a difficult 2025 season.
Latrell Mitchell, Alex Johnston, Cam Murray, Jamie Humphreys, Cody Walker and Campbell Graham are among key men to have spent time out of the side this year.
The latest injury comes just as 16th-placed Souths appeared to be approaching full strength and could open up a spot for beleaguered Lewis Dodd to return to the halves.
Signed before Bennett's coaching return was confirmed, the Englishman has been given only one chance to start in the halves at struggling Souths - at Magic Round amid a slew of injuries.
But Bennett may now have little option other than to shift Jack Wighton from five-eighth to Aitken's centre spot and promote Dodd from his bench.
Bennett was reluctant to detail Dodd's path into favour at the Rabbitohs as speculation mounts he could be forced out of the club.
"He knows and I know so we'll leave it at that. I don't really want to make it public. It's nothing to do with anybody else," the coach said.
Anthony Seibold insists Tom Trbojevic is happy staying at centre for a consecutive week after a controversial shift from fullback for Manly's win over Wests Tigers.
"He actually said he enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity. He's had a good week's preparation," the Manly coach said.
"He's the current Kangaroos centre, he's played for the Blues at centre so he's an elite centre as well as an elite fullback."
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