NRL: Gasnier back for vital clash

Mark Gasnier. Photo / Getty Images

A central point of interest in tonight's top of the table NRL clash between the Dragons and the Panthers will be the impact of returning centre Mark Gasnier.

Penrith coach Matthew Elliott is making no special plans to cope with Gasnier tonight but is backing the returning St George Illawarra star to immediately find his feet in the NRL.

Gasnier will be playing his first league game in over two years following a stint playing rugby for French side Stade Francais.

Elliott admits he's given little thought to the prospect of facing the former Test and NSW centre as he works out a way to beat the ladder leaders.

And his task has been made harder with four players missing through State of Origin call-ups and in-form halfback Luke Walsh set to miss out with an ankle injury.

"We've put five new players into our team this week and our main focus has been fitting those guys into our system of play and when you have that change it's very difficult to focus on players from other teams," Elliott told AAP.

The Panthers' fine form this year has come at a cost with the loss of Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis and Michael Gordon to NSW duty, as well as skipper Petero Civoniceva to Queensland for Wednesday's State of Origin clash in Sydney.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reported today that Civoniceva and Australian skipper Darren Lockyer have both questioned how the Dragons have managed to squeeze Gasnier into the salary cap for just A$120,000 (NZ$147,000) this season.

" I just don't see how a player of Mark Gasnier's quality can be on the salary cap for $120,000", Lockyer told the paper.

* The Australian TAB acted quickly to reflect the arrival of Gasnier on the Dragons' prospects for the season. The Dragons have been slashed from A$3.25 to A$3 to take out the NRL Premiership after securing his services.

- AAP