He may have missed the boat for Origin I, but Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce will get his chance to push for a NSW recall when he returns from injury on Monday night.

Thought to be a frontrunner for the Blues No.7 jumper before suffering a shoulder injury in the Anzac Day loss to St George Illawarra, Pearce go head to head with another Origin omission in Gold Coast skipper Scott Prince at Skilled Park.

The return of Pearce will see Todd Carney revert to fullback, while the Titans welcome back former New Zealand centre Clinton Toopi.

The ladder-leading Dragons have been boosted by the availability of seven players who missed last week's loss to Canberra, with centre Beau Scott coming back from a knee injury to join the club's six Origin representatives for Friday night's tussle with Parramatta.

"It has been a frustrating few weeks, especially last week when I was so close to playing," Scott said.

"It's important for us to bounce back after the loss on the weekend."

With Steve Matai unavailable due to suspension, Manly have teamed representative halves Jamie Lyon and Kieran Foran in the centres for Saturday night's trip to Townsville to face North Queensland.

Foran has played exclusively at five-eighth so far this season, but Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler has named Chris Bailey in the No.6 jumper in a bid to shore up his side's right side defence.

South Sydney have been boosted by the earlier-than-expected return of skipper Roy Asotasi from a shoulder injury for Sunday's game against high-flying Penrith at ANZ Stadium.

It had been anticipated Asotasi would be out for up to a month with nerve damage, but he comes back in what is a monster pack with David Taylor also named after missing the loss to the Warriors due to Origin commitments.

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