St George Illawarra enforcer Jeremy Smith says shutting down Brisbane's potent attacking unit is the toughest challenge in the NRL.

"You could say that - they've got big Izzy (Israel Folau) out wide who can jump over a house and Peter Wallace who can put the ball wherever he wants," Smith said ahead of Friday night's match-up at Suncorp Stadium.

"The way we're defending at the moment, I think it's going to be a good challenge for us and them."

After tight wins over North Queensland and Melbourne, Brisbane's explosive backline proved too hot to handle for the previously undefeated Warriors last weekend with centres Folau and Steve Michaels and skipper Darren Lockyer all crossing for tries.

The Dragons boast the best defence after three rounds, but they have yet to face an examination like this.

Test centre Justin Hodges returns from suspension to bolster the Broncos line-up, coach Ivan Henjak afforded the luxury of sliding Folau over to the wing alongside Hodges to create a devastating right edge.

The man charged with keeping the duo in check is likely to be Smith, the former Melbourne backrower who was recruited by coach Wayne Bennett to add some steel to the Dragons' pack.

"You've got to tackle to win games and that's the way we've based our game," Smith said.

"It's either get the job done or someone else is going to do the job for you.

"That's the way you want it to be in the club right now."

While defence is what has powered the Dragons to two wins from their opening three matches, the attack continues to be a work in progress.

Bennett on Tuesday elevated Mathew Head from the bench into the run-on side at halfback with skipper Ben Hornby moving to fullback and Darius Boyd replacing the injured Matt Cooper (hamstring) in the centres.

Head had some impressive touches when brought on for the final 30 minutes against Cronulla on the weekend, but admitted to being a frustrated spectator during the opening half with Hornby and Jamie Soward the preferred halves.

"It is pretty tough," Head said of making an impact off the bench.

"It's something that I spoke to Wayne a fair bit about last week and he was pretty much telling me to make sure that when I came on I didn't try and over play my hand too much.

"I was reasonably happy with how I went, it's hard to sit there on the bench.

"I want to play 80 minutes and those boys (Soward and Hornby) are going really well, but if it came to that stage (when all three played 80 minutes) then we'd all be happy to play with it."

Along with the match being Bennett's homecoming, five other former Broncos were named in the Dragons squad on Wednesday with Nick Emmett named on a five-man bench to join fellow ex-Brisbane players Boyd, Neville Costigan, Luke Priddis and Wendell Sailor.

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