Promising playmaker Lyhkan King-Togia has replaced axed halfback Lachlan Ilias, and it’s not the only change to the St George Illawarra line-up for this weekend.
Despite scoring a slashing try in the Anzac Day loss to the Roosters, Dragons winger Sione Finau is another casualty for Saturday’s Magic Round clash with Wests Tigers. Corey Allan, who made one State of Origin appearance for the Maroons in 2020, will make his Dragons debut after overcoming an ACL injury that wiped out his 2024 season.
King-Togia has made four NRL appearances and recently signed a contract extension that will result in him progressing to the club’s top-30 squads for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Once the decision was made to drop Ilias, coach Shane Flanagan pondered whether to promote King-Togia or his NSW Cup halves partner, Jonah Glover. King-Togia won the race to partner Kyle Flanagan in the halves.
There’s been a shake-up in the South Sydney halves as well, with Jack Wighton to partner Bud Sullivan. English No.7 Lewis Dodd has been overlooked, limiting him to just 20 minutes of NRL game time since making his transfer from the Super League. Latrell Mitchell is unavailable due to suspension, with Jye Gray returning to the No.1 jersey.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has made other changes, including shifting Euan Aitken from the back row to centre. Also, Tallis Duncan will start, and Lachlan Hubner (concussion) returns to a bench that includes new faces Fletcher Myers and Liam Le Blanc.
Lyhkan King-Togia has been called up to the NRL.
Josh Schuster is edging closer to making his Rabbitohs debut, but won’t be called up for the clash against the Knights.
Gold Coast coach Des Hasler has lost patience with David Fifita, dropping him to the reserves list for Sunday’s clash with Canterbury. Fifita, who was last year involved in a tug-of-war between the Titans and Roosters, now finds himself unable to crack the starting 17 in a blow to his bid for a Maroons jersey.
