Parramatta duo Tepai Moeroa and Darcy Lussick have welcomed the inclusion of Danny Wicks in the Eels side for Friday night’s NRL blockbuster against Canterbury.

Wicks is expected to play his first NRL match in more than five years after being named on the Eels bench in place of the suspended Junior Paulo.

The former Dragon and Knight was arrested and charged with eight drug-related offences in 2009, quitting the Newcastle side after being released on bail.

In 2011 he was sentenced to a maximum of three years in jail after being found guilty of trafficking drugs, eventually serving 18 months of the sentence.

After being cleared to play by the NRL last year, Wicks signed a one-year contract with the Eels in October, teammate Moeroa saying on Tuesday that the side would welcome his power and aggression.

“It’d be a great pleasure to play with him because he’s been around for a while and he’s got a lot of muscle and aggression in him so it’ll be good to release him on the field,” Moeroa said.

“It’ll be good to have someone like Wicksy: he’s unbelievably strong and they’ve got the forward pack (Canterbury) to play that dominant game.”

Prop forward Darcy Lussick echoed the sentiment, backing Wicks to turn heads in his first top grade game back.

“Danny had a great pre-season,” Lussick said.

“He’s trained just as hard as anyone else and he’s just as deserving as a spot as anyone else, so if he is chosen and he does play on Friday night I’m looking forward to it.”

Wicks gets opportunity after fellow prop Paulo was charged with a grade three lifting tackle in the match against Manly.

Paulo has pleaded guilty to the shot on Matt Ballin but is contesting the severity of the charge.

Despite Paulo looking at as much as seven weeks on the sidelines, Moeroa vowed that the Eels would continue their aggressive approach against Canterbury.

“That was one of the biggest things we worked on this season, our aggression and physical presence on the field,” he said.

“They’ve got a strong and powerful forward pack so we’ve just to muscle up again. Hopefully we can back up last week’s performance and go from there.”

The Eels have lost six of their last seven matches against the Bulldogs but will go into this match buoyed by their brilliant display against Manly last week.