NRL Early Mail Round 16: All the latest team news ahead of Tuesday’s team announcements

GET all the latest team news ahead of Tuesday’s team announcements in the Round 16 edition of NRL Early Mail.

Brett Morris could return for the Bulldogs.

GET all the latest team news ahead of Tuesday’s team announcements in the Round 16 edition of NRL Early Mail.

In the biggest team news so far:

* Brett Morris will return for his first match of 2016 at fullback for Canterbury. Will Hopoate will shift to the centres.

* Cronulla winger Siosaia Feki will return from a hamstring injury.

* Ricky Stuart faces a tough decision with Shaun Fensom making a strong return from injury in NSW Cup last week and Shannon Boyd returning from suspension.

* Josh Dugan will be named for the Dragons clash with Newcastle on Saturday.

* New Rabbitohs signing Joe Burgess could make his debut as early as Friday as the Rabbitohs deal with an outside back crisis.

* Manly prop Liam Knight broke his ankle during his first grade debut and is likely out for the season.

* Raiders winger Edrick Lee will miss at least another week with his troublesome hamstring injury.

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Panthers v Rabbitohs

Friday 7:50pm at Pepper Stadium

Panthers: Matt Moylan will play Origin on Wednesday and Will Smith is expected to be on standby if the Penrith skipper isn’t fit. Unless something insane happens in the warm up on Wednesday night, Bryce Cartwright will not play.

Rabbitohs: Souths will be without Kyle Turner (hamstring), Siosifa Talakai (ankle) and Paul Carter (suspension) for this week’s clash with Penrith. Adam Reynolds and Greg Inglis will also be backing up from Origin. Ed Murphy could be in the frame to replace Talakai in the centres while Jason Clark may replace Turner on the right edge. Joe Burgess could be in the frame to make his Rabbitohs debut after transferring from the Roosters earlier this week.

Knights v Dragons

Saturday 3:00pm at Hunter Sports Stadium

Knights: Nathan Ross, Peter Mata’utia,Robbie Rochow, Jarrod Mullen and Chanel Mata’utia are all scheduled to return this week but it remains to be seen if they’ll be available. Mullen is particularly unlikely with the club believing a return before Round 19 would be optimistic.

Dragons: It depends on the minutes he plays on Wednesday night but Tyson Frizell is expected to be right to back up. Josh Dugan is also expected to return, which would push Jason Nightingale back to the wing and Kurt Mann out of the side.

Josh Dugan is expected to return from an ankle injury.

Sharks v Warriors

Saturday 5:30pm at Southern Cross Stadium

Sharks:James Maloney, Paul Gallen and Jack Bird are all playing Origin on Wednesday. If they fail to back up Fa’amanu Brown, Chris Heighington and Ricky Leutele are expected to slot in. Wade Graham will be right to play after serving his suspension in Origin II. Winger Siosaia Feki will also return after a couple of weeks out with a hamstring injury.

Warriors: Thomas Leuluai is expected to return after missing all but the first few minutes of the win over the Warriors with a concussion. Jacob Lillyman is the Warriors sole Origin rep and he’s expected to back up if fit.

Fa'amanu Brown could make his return to first grade.

Bulldogs v Broncos

Saturday 7:30pm at ANZ Stadium

Bulldogs: Brett Morris is slated to return, which would allow Will Hopoate to slot into the centres to replace Josh Morris.

Broncos: Josh McGuire, Corey Parker, Corey Oates, Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett and Darius Boyd are all backing up from Origin. Wayne Bennett likes to rest his Origin stars after a match so expect Thaiday, McGuire, Parker and Gillett to all spend a week on the sidelines.

Brett Morris has not played a game this season.

Titans v Raiders

Sunday 2:00pm at CBUS Super Stadium

Titans: Greg Bird is expected to back up for the Titans at lock, which would see Agnatius Paasi drop back to the bench and Eddy Pettybourne out of the team. David Shillington is still a week or two away from returning.

Raiders: Edrick Lee will from injury until Round 17 but Shannon Boyd and Jack Wighton will make their comeback from suspension. Ricky Stuart faces a difficult decision regarding his forwards — Shaun Fensom made a strong return in NSW Cup last week and the impressive Luke Bateman has done well when given more minutes.

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Storm v Tigers

Sunday 4:00pm at AAMI Park

Storm: Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk both seem likely to back up following Origin. Blake Green and Cameron Munster are both expected to be included.

Tigers: Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah are both playing on Wednesday and will be named. Curtis Sironen is slated to return from an ankle injury this week.

Cowboys v Sea Eagles

Monday 7:00pm at 1300 Smiles Stadium

Cowboys: Because of the long turnaround following Origin the Cowboys star set of Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan, Justin O’Neill, Matt Scott and James Tamou are all expected to play, barring injury.

Sea Eagles: Jamie Lyon should be back for Manly and Dylan Walker will likely back up from Origin but hooker Matt Parcell and prop Liam Knight both remained in Queensland after the loss to the Titans with a hamstring injury and a broken ankle. If Parcell misses time Apisai Koroisau or Pita Godinet are tipped to move to hooker.

Originally published as NRL Early Mail Round 16: All the latest team news ahead of Tuesday’s team announcements