The Dolphins welcome back two key forwards as they take on St George Illawarra with the chance to enter the NRL top eight for the first time.

Starting hooker Jeremy Marshall-King returns from a thigh laceration and infection that led to him spending time in hospital, while lock Max Plath is back from a foot injury and is likely to start on the bench in Friday night's clash at Suncorp Stadium.

Tough-as-teak forward Ray Stone has bravely carried a shoulder injury into battle with the team down on troops, but he has been rested to give the issue more time to heal.

Marshall-King suffered a deep gash to his leg in round six and took the field in round nine, but the wound became aggravated.

"He's ready to go," coach Kristian Woolf said.

"It's been a long time, but I don't think people realised how serious it was and how big the cut was.

"It was just the seriousness of the infection as well. He did a couple of stints in hospital on the IV drip and getting it flushed out.

"It's great to have him back. If you look at the last couple of years we haven't won a lot of games without Jeremy.

"I've been happy with the group over the last couple of weeks because we've started to learn how to do that."

Plath, last season's player of the year, injured a foot in round seven against Melbourne, which has also taken longer to heal than first thought.

The 23-year-old was in the frame to make his Queensland debut in game one of the State of Origin series before injury struck. That would appear unlikely in the short term until he gets some footy under his belt, but Woolf said a Maroons jersey was within Plath's grasp.

"(The injury) ended up being a lot more serious that we thought it was," the coach said.

"He is coming into this having not done a hell of a lot until the last couple of weeks.

"We're very confident in what he's going to be able to do for the team. He'll be on limited minutes.

"I've got no doubt he's a guy that will feature in the Origin frame at some stage.

"It's probably too early to be talking about that now. He needs to get a couple of games under his belt."

The Dolphins lost their opening four matches of the season but have recovered well to be on 12 points, just two behind the Dragons, who are in the eight.

"We're under no illusions at all," Woolf said.

"I know guys like (centre) Moses Suli really well and how dangerous he is. He's a strike player on the edge.

"(Second-rower) Luciano Leilua is the same. They have a physical pack and experience with guys like Clint Gutherson and Damien Cook.

"They're as dangerous as any team in the comp and we have to bring our best game."