NRL round 6 early mail: Saab and Schuster back to bolster Manly

Manly is poised to field its strongest team of the year this weekend due to the return of injured stars Jason Saab and Josh Schuster.

Saab hasn’t played since suffering an ACL injury in round 22 last year and was expected to be on the sidelines for several weeks more. However, the speedster will make a timely return, particularly given winger Christian Tuipulotu is unavailable due to a knee injury of his own.

Saab, one of the tallest and fastest men in the league, has already scored 37 tries from 50 NRL games. The 22-year-old’s inclusion will give coach Anthony Seibold’s side another option in attack for Saturday’s clash with Penrith.

So too will Schuster, who missed last weekend’s draw with Newcastle due to a quad injury. The Samoan international has made just two first-grade appearances this year, but will line up against Panthers pivot Jarome Luai at Bluebet Stadium.

Meanwhile, Canterbury could have Tevita Pangai Junior on deck for the first time this year as the club deals with an injury crisis. A calf injury has sidelined the star forward, but there are hopes he could be available for the Good Friday clash against South Sydney.

Viliame Kikau (concussion), Raymond Fataila-Mariner (concussion), Fa’amanu Brown (elbow dislocation), Chris Patolo (knee), Franklin Pele (radius fracture), Luke Thompson (ruptured lisfranc ligament) and Bailey Biondi-Odo (ACL) are among the players unavailable to coach Cameron Ciraldo for the Rabbitohs encounter.

At Cronulla, lock Dale Finucane will miss the next three matches after pleading guilty to a grade two dangerous contact charge for a hip drop on Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad. Finucane was facing a possible four-match ban if he unsuccessfully fought the charge at the judiciary.

Warriors forward Marata Niukore (two matches) and Canterbury’s Jayden Okunbor (one match) were also suspended for hip-drop tackles after submitting early guilty pleas.