Sloan was named in the No. 14 jumper for the Dragons on Tuesday and, barring late changes, will return to first grade at Kogarah for the first time since his side suffered a golden-point defeat to the Titans.

Fellow youngster Cody Ramsey subsequently stepped into No. 1 jumper and made it his own with an eight-week run of form only halted by a knee injury suffered early in the Dragons win over the Sea Eagles last week.

It saw Moses Mbye, who had been named in the centres, shift to fullback where the veteran utility has been named to play this week.

With outside back stocks drained by injuries to Ramsey, Moses Suli and Mikaele Ravalawa, Anthony Griffin has opted to shift Jack Bird to the centres and recall Sloan on the bench, though it remains to be seen how he is utilised against the second-placed Cowboys.

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The Dapto Canaries product has spent the last two weeks on the wing in the NSW Cup with a view to returning to first grade on the flank, though fullback remains his preferred slot.

It's the 20-year-old's second NRL recall of the season after he spent seven weeks in NSW Cup following a round three loss to Cronulla, a defeat that also saw Amone shifted to the bench for the month that followed.

Having locked down the Dragons No. 6 jumper since being recalled in round eight, Amone is confident his childhood mate will also come back stronger for the experience.

"He called me straight away when he found out and I was so happy for him," Amone said.

"I see all the stuff behind the scenes and how hard he works. To see him get another opportunity, I was really happy for him.

"It was tough at times, but he's been through a lot tougher. I knew he'd come to me whenever he wanted to and he did come to me [at times], but he just had to work on his footy.

"Everyone's going to go through [being dropped] it at some point. He went through it early on, I went through it early on. It's part of footy, you have ups and downs. I'd rather it happen now than later.

"He's been working hard all year and he's got an opportunity now. If he takes it with both hands he'll be there continually."

Amone has done just that in cementing a halves spot alongside skipper Ben Hunt, with the pair both contracted until the end of next season. Hunt is in such sublime touch he's being widely tipped to claim the Dally M Medal at seasons' end, a two-try effort against the Sea Eagles last week helping that cause.

In career-best form at 32, Hunt was due to begin talks with the club about a possible extension this week. Amone, who laid on the second of Hunt's four-pointers with a deft grubber last week, said he would love to make their halves partnership a long-term one.

"He's really helped me ever since I came to the club and, if he was to stick around, I'd be grateful for that," Amone, also contracted until the end of 2023, said.

"I'm definitely getting more confidence each week and I gain a lot of confidence from Ben Hunt. I know he's one of the top halfbacks in the game and I've been watching him since I was young, so having the opportunity to play with him is very surreal and I'm grateful for that.

"I just try and learn as much as I can off him and implement it into my game. I'm just trying to build each week and work on the little things like my kicking, my defence to build on that. He's helping me a lot and I'm just trying to build each week."

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The 20-6 win over Manly last week keeps the Dragons final boat afloat, but a fortnight that will see them face the Cowboys and Sharks shapes as make or break for their top-eight hopes. It's a tough ask, but Amone says his side head in with confidence high.

"It's a good challenge for us, if we want to take our season to the next step we need to come out this weekend and get the win," he said.

"It was a tough win [last] weekend and we'll take a lot of confidence out of that. We've been working towards the end of the year and it's finally here. I feel our team's rolling with full confidence and we're very excited to go out there and take this challenge on."

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