St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hornby has no complaints with Manly trotting out star centre Jamie Lyon on Sunday, despite the match coming three days before the Origin contest he was ruled out of through injury.

Lyon was on Tuesday scratched from next week's Origin III because of a recurrence of an ankle sprain.

But in a stunning development, Sea Eagles officials say they will give him every chance to prove his fitness for the clash with the NRL's ladder-leading Dragons at WIN Stadium.

A loophole in the rules means Lyon is eligible to play because it was the NSW medical officials and not a club doctor who ruled him unfit. Hornby says the Sea Eagles were well within their rights to try to play the former Test star.

"They say in Origin they want fit blokes and if they can't train there's no point having them there,' Hornby said.

"That's probably the case with Jamie. He probably could have played but he wouldn't be able to train and that's not ideal.

"That's a boost for them but that's not something we've got to worry about too much. We've just got to go out and compete and play well.

"He's a Test player, so obviously him coming into the side is going to help them but we can't go out there worrying too much about Jamie Lyon."

Sea Eagles football manager Steve Gigg said Lyon remained only an outside chance of taking on the Dragons, and he would not run with the team before the match.

"He's still undergoing some intense rehab and physio and it won't be known until game day," Gigg said.

Another of Manly's former Test stars who could be on the paddock come Sunday is Brett Stewart, but the injured custodian is no chance of playing against the Dragons.

Rather, Stewart will take part in a parade of Wollongong local juniors who went on to play fullback for Australia. Stewart is to be joined by the likes of Garry Jack, Graeme Langlands and Keith Barnes.

There has been wide-ranging speculation as to when Stewart would return from the knee injury which has kept him out since round six.

Some reports suggest he would not be back this season.

"There has been speculation left, right and centre. Some people even said he could be back as early as next week," Gigg said.

"It's still to be determined. He's just being nursed along with a view to making sure that he's right for the finals series."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP