Brisbane will have to slay the Dragons without one of their finest knights after Karmichael Hunt pulled out of Friday night's NRL showdown with St George Illawarra.

The cat was out of the bag early when flying winger Denan Kemp spent the entire training session at fullback, sprinting onto chip kicks put in behind the defensive line by halves Darren Lockyer and Peter Wallace.

When asked about the possibility of marking up on Wendell Sailor on Friday night, Kemp said: "I'm not sure if I'll be playing wing, so I don't think I'll have to worry about it".

A few hours later the Auckland-bound speedster was named at fullback and Sailor was one of seven interchange players named in coach Nathan Brown's 20-man Dragons squad.

Hunt, who had been battling an eye infection, suffered a strained calf muscle against the Warriors at the weekend.

With a short turnaround and only a month out from the finals, the risk of backing up was too great.

Reece Robinson, who has won a recall on the wing, is certain to be targeted in the air by a Dragons side which has a height edge out wide with Josh Morris and Jason Nightingale on the flanks and Mark Gasnier and Adam Cooper in the centres.

Kemp and Lockyer have formed a connection this season which has led to a number of instinctive tries, something the vastly improved Gold Coast 21 year-old admits will be hard to walk away from at the end of the season.

In round 12 Kemp helped Brisbane win a thriller against Parramatta, chasing down a Lockyer kick on the siren.

He got another in the dying seconds off some more Lockyer magic against the Raiders a fortnight ago.

Kemp, who will join the Warriors next year, puts his try haul down to being on the end of such a great backline.

"It's going to be sad and hard to leave that, but that's footy," said Kemp, the NRL's equal leading try scorer along with Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall on 15.

"You can see when Lockyer comes back (in the team) I actually score and when he's away I don't score that many.

"We've trained together for a few years now and this is my first full year in first grade and we're definitely getting a combination going.

"Hopefully that can blossom at the end of the season so we do it in the finals."

Lock Tonie Carroll's efforts to get back on the field continue to be plagued by a suspect hamstring but prop Ben Hannant, who didn't train on Tuesday, is expected to play against the Dragons.

Utility Greg Eastwood received physiotherapy for a stiff neck but like Hannant is not considered in any doubt.

Forward Sam Thaiday is back in the engine room after being stood down last weekend against the Warriors for disciplinary reasons after missing a training session.

The Dragons are one of five teams on 24 points filling spots six to 10 while Brisbane, despite losing to the Warriors last week, still have a slim hope of getting into the top four despite being three points behind the Roosters.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP