Coach Ben Kirkland will have almost a full squad at his disposal for the first time all year.

While Wilbow's suspension came at a bad time for the Sharks, it allowed him to recover from a hamstring injury that hampered his explosiveness off the mark.

Any potential half chance went begging as a result.

"It will be good to have Mitch back fresh and firing," Kirkland said.

"(The injury) was restricting his movement where he didn't have that explosive speed and power."

With Wilbow slotting in at fullback, Josh Dwyer will switch to five-eighth to partner the evergreen Joey Cudmore in the halves.

"They're the odd couple, but it's good for Josh to have that levelling head because when he's calm he runs the footy a lot more," Kirkland said.

The Sharks currently sit precariously inside the Group 3 top five on points differential ahead of sixth-placed Forster-Tuncurry.

Both teams have matches against lower-ranked opposition this weekend.

"We're almost at full-strength so the excuses are not going to wash anymore," Kirkland said.

In a sign of their depth, regular first grader Kieran Gallagher will return through reserve grade after recovering from injury.

"I haven't had options all year so it's good to have blokes coming back through reggies," Kirkland said.

The Pirates' forward pack is arguably the best in the competition with Old captain-coach Shannon Ellem leading the way.

That will again be the case this weekend.

"We've got to match their enthusiasm; their big boys roll forward so we have to contain them," the Sharks coach said.

"Their pack is definitely their strength."

First grade kicks off at 3pm.

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