Canterbury has chosen to stick with their current squad for the key match against Penrith after players successfully recovered from a COVID-19 outbreak that affected the club.
Several Bulldogs players faced the virus last week, even impacting game day during their loss to St George Illawarra last Saturday.
On Monday, eight players and two staff members were removed from training to address their health issues, but by Thursday's captain's run, the full squad had returned.
"Everyone's good, everyone's back on deck," noted coach Cameron Ciraldo.
"It was more precautionary at the start of the week; obviously, it was just a light session ... so we started to keep the guys away from each other until after the day off."
Conditions were so dire on Monday that SG Ball coach Steve Turner, a former player, stepped in for training, while Ciraldo opted to sit it out.
"I was slow when I played, so I'm no faster now," Ciraldo quipped.
The news of a fully fit squad will be a relief for the Bulldogs, who need a victory over the second-placed Panthers to remain in legitimate finals contention.
Currently ninth, the Bulldogs could stay mathematically alive even with a loss, but if South Sydney and North Queensland win later that weekend, their finals aspirations would be dashed.
"We're not talking about what's on the line in a big picture sense," Ciraldo remarked.
"We've got a very short-term focus; we want to stay present throughout that 80 minutes. If we can do that and get the game on, then we give ourselves an opportunity."
On their side is the fact that earlier this year, the Bulldogs were the first team to defeat Penrith, achieving a convincing 32-16 win in April.
Halfback Lachlan Galvin excelled in that match as Canterbury surged forward, taking advantage of the Panthers' vulnerable left-side defense.
"This next instalment will be (about) who can learn the most from that game," Ciraldo, a former assistant coach at Penrith, stated.
"We've evolved as a team a lot since then. We've had to go through some tough times and we've gone through the last 12 weeks of performing quite well."
This game follows closely on the heels of the Bulldogs signing key second-rower Jacob Preston to a long-term contract extension.
Ciraldo expressed confidence in the club's ability to keep Preston, despite his management's claims of low offers during negotiations.
"I told you so," Ciraldo said regarding the re-signing.
"It's been awesome to watch Jacob's journey over the last four years.
"I'm really excited to have him around a lot longer."