St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett has declared Darius Boyd and Michael Weyman certain starters ahead of Saturday's semi-final against Brisbane despite their failing to complete their side's final training session.
Boyd, who is still feeling the effects of a knee injury suffered in Sunday's loss to the Eels, left WIN Jubilee Oval after 25 minutes while Weyman did not take any part due to general soreness.
"He (Weyman) trained the whole session on Wednesday so it's not an issue," Bennett said."
"Darius went in (early) but he got a knock on his knee (against Parramatta) and he was much better today than he was on Wednesday - he'll play."
Bennett is equally adamant Broncos centre Justin Hodges will take to the field despite leaving the training track early with a suspected hamstring injury on Friday.
"He's probably like our guys - he'll play, I've got no doubt about that," Bennett said of the Test centre.
But Bennett's former deputy Ivan Henjak is not so certain, labelling Hodges a 50-50 chance to play and nominating youngster Alex Glenn as the man to fill his void in the centres if the star centre fails to recover by kick-off.
While Hodges' absence would be a massive blow for the hosts, Bennett knows his former side still have a major weapon at their disposal in the form of man-mountain Dave Taylor, who has been loitering out in the centres in recent weeks.
"He's a wonderful athlete that's his great plus," he said of the South Sydney bound prop
"He's got this great athletic ability and he's always had that, and for a big man he's just remarkable really."
"He's extremely talented, I said from day one he's probably the most talented forward that I've coached in terms of natural ability."
"He's got footwork, he's got great hands, he's got high skill level, he's got everything."
Asked the plan to nullify the giant 21-year-old, Bennett quipped: "The plan is to tackle him ... if he's in front of you you've just got to tackle him."
Meanwhile, the master mentor rejected suggestions he can expect a hostile reaction from the Broncos' faithful as he returns to Brisbane as the enemy.
"They won't heckle me, that won't happen," he said.
"The only people I'm worried about hugging me is the media. The fans I won't have a problem with and they certainly won't heckle me."
The Dragons head to Suncorp Stadium brimming with confidence having won six of seven matches in Brisbane.
In contrast, the hosts have not won a final at their home ground in their previous six attempts dating back to 1995.