St George Illawarra captain Ben Hornby is set to be a shock withdrawal from tomorrow night's final round NRL match against the Rabbitohs.
Hornby will be at Kogarah to lift the JJ Giltinan Shield minor premiership trophy - which will be presented to the Dragons post-match - but a hand injury is set to rule him out of playing in the main event.
The 30-year-old has had his right hand heavily strapped this week and coach Wayne Bennett along with medical and conditioning staff will make a final assessment on his condition after training in Wollongong today.
Full coverage of the Dragons If Hornby is ruled out, Nathan Fien will move to halfback with Luke Priddis coming into the team to share the hooker role with Dean Young.
Hornby has missed just one game in the past two years, having pulled out of St George Illawarra's victory over Manly last month with a virus. While the captain's withdrawal would be a blow for the Dragons just a week out from the finals, club officials are expecting star five-eighth Jamie Soward to play tomorrow night.
Soward left the field during Thursday's training session while struggling with a corked calf muscle.
He emerged from the dressing rooms minutes later with his leg heavily strapped.
Bennett is poised to resist the temptation to rest Soward, but if he struggles through today's session, Young is on standby to replace him at five-eighth.
The former Brisbane premiership coach will also make a final decision on the make-up of the interchange bench after training.
However, Priddis is likely to be joined by Matt Prior, Jarrod Saffy and Trent Merrin, with utility Nick Emmett expected to be the 18th man.
The Dragons are guaranteed a first-place finish regardless of the result against the Rabbitohs, having wrapped up the minor premiership against Newcastle last Saturday.
NRL chief executive David Gallop will present the JJ Giltinan Shield to Bennett and Hornby after full-time tomorrow night.
Kick-off is at 7pm.
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