Penrith playmaker Peter Wallace will return from an ankle injury for the Panthers’ NRL round-20 match with Cronulla in Bathurst on Saturday.

His inclusion is a huge boost for the Panthers whose charge to the finals has hit the wobbles in his absence, with second-choice half Tyrone Peachey sidelined for the rest of the year with a pectoral muscle injury.

The former Brisbane halfback suffered the injury in the round-17 win over the Wests Tigers and it was originally feared Wallace might miss the rest of 2014.

He missed Penrith’s round-18 win over Brisbane and the round-19 loss to premiers the Sydney Roosters which knocked the Panthers off the top of the NRL ladder, two points behind Manly.

Stand-in half Bryce Cartwright, who was one of the Panthers’ best in the loss to the tricolours, moves to the second row.

In other team news, South Sydney coach Michael Maguire will persist with Adam Reynolds in the Rabbitohs’ halves alongside John Sutton for Monday’s round-20 away clash with Canberra.

Luke Keary has been retained on a 19-man bench.

Reynolds’ role at the club continues to be under the spotlight. Keary instantaneously turned Souths last-start match against Parramatta around when he was injected into the action in the 65th minute after Reynolds had struggled.

In just his second game back from a pectoral muscle injury suffered at the pre-season Auckland Nines, Keary showed just why he is rated so highly at Redfern in steering the Rabbitohs to a 32-12 victory at the back end of the game.

Souths scored 16 points in the final 15 minutes when Keary was on the park to run away with the win.

Maguire said post-match his halves pairing would continue to evolve after he had said pre-season he was looking to Keary and Reynolds as his No.6 and No.7 partners in 2014.

But now Sutton is his first choice five-eighth, with Reynolds and Keary left to fight it out over the halfback spot.

Prop Luke Bailey will miss Gold Coast’s home clash with Parramatta on Saturday with a hamstring problem.

Greg Bird returns from suspension to the Titans’ pack with Dave Taylor remaining in the centres after his starring effort in the upset win over Newcastle.