St George Illawarra Dragons head coach Dean Young has confirmed Lyhkan King-Togia will remain his side's five-eighth for next weekend's clash with the Cronulla Sharks.
Despite being a marquee recruit at the start of this season for the struggling Dragons, Daniel Atkinson was dropped for Friday night's latest loss to the Dolphins in Wollongong.
The decision came just 24 hours out from kick-off, with King-Togia training in the halves during Thursday morning's captain's run confirming the call.
Young left Atkinson on the bench for the match, but he wasn't activated.
The head coach, who was recently made permanent by the Dragons after serving in an interim capacity since Shane Flanagan was axed, confirmed King-Togia would remain in the halves next week.
“Lyhkan will be five-eighth next week because of the performance (he) put in tonight,” Young said during his press conference after the narrow six-point loss.
“He [Atkinson] and Luciano [Leilua] will be playing reserve grade tomorrow, so they know what they need to work on and I'll be watching the game."
The Dragons will likely be forced into a change with Toby Couchman failing a head injury assessment - it was a Category 2, however, unless clearance from the NRL is gained, he is looking at an 11-day stand down, with the Dragons facing a nine-day turnaround to their next clash at home against Cronulla.
Blake Lawrie could be his replacement as he has returned to fitness, while Kade Reed is also due back next week through the NSW Cup.
The joint-venture, who lost to the Gold Coast Titans the week before, had played King-Togia off the bench for the final 20 minutes, and Young saw enough to make the switch during the game against the Dolphins.
“He got an opportunity last week. It was only 20 minutes, and he did some really nice things with the ball, which we all know he's capable of doing,” Young said.
“He knows that he needs to be better defensively, and he did that for 20 minutes against the Titans, but doing it for 20 minutes against the Titans and doing it for 80 minutes against the Dolphins is two different things, and I thought he defended great tonight.”
The loss to Kristian Woolf's side all but confirms the Dragons will win the wooden spoon, with only five games remaining. They are currently eight points behind the teams ahead of them on the ladder.
