RUGBY LEAGUE
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Kiwi international Jason Nightingale has been given the green light to return from a month-long injury lay-off and line up for the Dragons on the Gold Coast this weekend.
Nightingale has missed the past three games with a foot injury but has been named on the wing for Sunday's clash with the Titans.
He ran on an anti-gravity treadmill last week and resumed full training on Monday.
"He got through, he's done everything on Monday and Tuesday," coach Paul McGregor said.
"He had Wednesday off, so it was about how he recovered on that day off.
"He backed up today [Thursday] and at the moment he's 100 per cent to play."
Rookie back Justin Hunt has been filling in for Nightingale during his stint in rehabilitation.
He has been named on a seven-man extended bench this week, alongside fellow outside back Eto Nabuli.
McGregor resisted the temptation to retain Hunt in place of Dylan Farrell, who has struggled to shake a back injury for the latter half of the season.
"At this stage Dylan is our most experienced player out on the edge," McGregor said.
"So it's probably important that we get a mixture of youth and experience there.
"Dylan is an experienced player, he's coming back from injury, so you've got to expect the build-up to his game to improve over the period that he plays.
"He's been back now a couple of games, we would like him to keep improving in his form."
McGregor will use Sunday's trip north to gauge whether he will play a second hooker or a fourth forward on the bench heading into finals.
McGregor has favoured using two rakes throughout the season, starting Mitch Rein in the No 9 and switching between veteran Heath L'Estrange and rookie Craig Garvey on the bench.
Garvey played only 18 minutes against Penrith last week and Rein reiterated post-game his desire to remain on the field for 80 minutes moving forward.
The seven-man bench for Sunday's game includes Garvey, four forwards and the two outside backs.
McGregor confirmed Garvey will make the 17-man cut this weekend but is playing his cards close to his chest in regards to the remainder of the season.
He says the temptation is there to carry four bench forwards.
"That will probably depend on this week, because Garvs will definitely play this week.
"And [on] how Mitch gets through his minutes, which one's playing with the right patience at the time and which one's building pressure correctly," McGregor said.