Nicho Hynes will slot straight back into Cronulla's halves on his return from a broken ankle, with Craig Fitzgibbon seeing no reason to hold his star No.7 back.
Hynes is on track to play his first game in eight weeks, against the Warriors on Saturday, after getting through the Sharks' major training session fine on Thursday.
Club medical staff were due to see how he pulls up from Cronulla's light run on Friday before making a final call, but Hynes is considered a likely starter.
One of the form halves of the competition over the first three months, Hynes had the Sharks sitting pretty for the first 11 rounds.
But they endured a run of losses before his injury, and have only returned to their winning ways in the past month.
Braydon Trindall and Dan Atkinson have recently combined nicely in the halves, with the Sharks back in the top three and still a chance of a home final.
But Fitzgibbon said there was no inclination to ease Hynes back in and leave Trindall and Atkinson in the halves together.
"He (Hynes) is an important part of what we do," Fitzgibbon said on Friday morning.
"He's in the elite category of players ... we want to get him back in sooner rather than later.
"To have a player of Nicho calibre getting ready to play, it's important for the team.
"The injury has healed itself, and with the amount of training time he has had, he has built that progressively.
"He is looking strong enough that if he is available, we will put him out there."
If Hynes is declared fit, it is expected Atkinson will stay in the 17 and potentially act as a bench utility.
Winger Ronaldo Mulitalo is also due back from a knee injury next week, while centre Jesse Ramien will also be back from suspension in round 27.
But crucially, Hynes' return against the Warriors will give him a two-week lead in to the finals, with the Sharks to face a fellow top-eight side in Manly next week.
"He will try and keep things simple, after an extended period out," Fitzgibbon said.
"He has to keep the basics of the game right, and so does the whole team. You can't skip on the basics and hardest parts of the game.
"That's what we want out of Nicho. But knowing Nicho, if he feels good, he'll go after the game. That's the way he plays.
"He is a front-foot player, and he's come back into a team that is going well."
