Norman has 222 NRL games to his name, Amone just five, but the Wests Devils product has one more start in the centres - his lone outing there in a round-11 loss to Cronulla.

It's a departure from the youngsters preferred position in the halves, a spot Norman has spent the bulk of his career in as well.

It shows how deep Anthony Griffin has had to reach into his kitbag amid injuries and suspensions, with Cody Ramsey and Brayden Wiliame nursing niggles and Jack Bird his serving his one-game 'dirty dozen suspension' alongside Josh McGuire and Jack de Belin.

Zac Lomax also won't rejoin the group until Sunday after he and prop Daniel Alvaro refused to sign a sworn statement that was a condition of re-entering the club bubble, prolonging their time on the sideline.

It's the unlikeliest of centre pairings, but Griffin is confident both will do the job.

"This week it's all hands on deck with the injuries and suspensions we've got," Griffin said.

"Every time we've given Junior [Amone] a chance he's done fantastic job for us. He played a full game at centre against Cronulla in that golden-point game [in round 11] and did a great job there.

"Junior's not someone that gets flustered really easy. He's a really mature kid for his age and the NRL experience that he's had. It was pretty easy to stick him there and, on the other side, Corey Norman will handle that as well.

"Obviously he's very experienced so there might be opportunities for him to use his kicking game there, especially coming out of trouble. He gives us a left-foot, right-foot [kicking] combination and he's got to do a job for us at left centre."

The drain wasn't enough to save fullback Matt Dufty from a forced spell, with rookie Tyrell Sloan recalled in the No. 1 jumper for the clash at Griffin's home patch of Rockhampton.

"Sloan's been going really well and our performance last week wasn't good enough and we weren't happy with that as a club and as a group," Griffin said.

"Sloany's got a really good relationship and football combination with [Jayden] Sullivan. We've got some talent coming through and we were always going to need to get them games.

"They're probably getting their opportunities quicker than they would've of we were at full strength all year. This situation's given us an opportunity to get them games at a more important part of the season.

"The flip-side is a real benefit for us now to be able to put them out there in games like this against a club like Souths."

The Dragons will start as despised outsiders in the clash against the high-flying Rabbitohs, who are riding a seven-game winning streak.

Read more: Generation next and exciting prospect for Dragons

They've managed to cling to the bottom of the top eight despite disappointing losses in their last two outings, but Griffin said there's no room for excuses despite depth being stretched to breaking point.

"It is a bit unique obviously, but we're in unique times from a community point of view with the whole COVD thing," Griffin said.

"There's a lot of things happening at the moment, on and off the field, that we're all dealing with for the first time. As I've said from the start, we're not going to be victims about it or whinge about it.

"Not withstanding having to stand people down, we need a performance we can be proud of as a club because that's the most important thing every week.

"The 80 minutes we put out there, and the people we put out there in the jersey, have to reflect the standing of us as a group and St George Illawarra as a brand.

"They're unusual times but [Saturday's] really simple for us as a group and as a club. My expectations are that we're going to play well."

While it will be a decidedly youthful side that takes the park, it will be milestone game for one of its veterans, with Tariq Sims to play his 200^th game.

"He's had to work really hard to get there, I obviously had a relationship with him back when he was 17-18 when he came to the Broncos," Griffin said.

"Everything Tariq's achieved he's had to make a lot of sacrifices [for]. It was really pleasing to see him get picked again this year for Origin. It's been a hard-earned 200 for him, he's had a couple of serious injuries along the way, so it's great to see him [reach] that milestone."