THREE weeks after fearing his season was over, Brett Seymour is set to make a surprise return from knee surgery for the Sharks in tonight's match against South Sydney at ANZ Stadium, Homebush Bay.

After fighting his way back from a stint in park football last year to be Ricky Stuart's first choice five-eighth at the start of the season, Seymour was injured in Cronulla's gritty round-two defeat of premiers Melbourne and went under the knife a few days later. Initially, there were concerns that the 23-year-old former Broncos playmaker had suffered the same injury as teammate Reece Williams, but tests later revealed Seymour had suffered no major damage to his anterior cruciate ligament and only required a "clean-up" operation.

"I was just lucky," Seymour said. "It could have been a lot worse. At first I thought it could have been something like what happened to Reece. He's out for the season. But it wasn't anything too major.

"I just had something floating around in there near my ACL and they cleaned it up."

Despite the positive diagnosis, Seymour wasn't expected to return so soon but he confirmed he would play against the Rabbitohs. As a result, stand-in skipper Greg Bird is set to shift to lock in a move that will bolster the Sharks forward strength following the loss of in-form second-ower Williams to injury and the suspensions of captain Paul Gallen and former Queensland Origin prop Ben Ross.

After playing for the Cobras, Cronulla's feeder team, in the NSW Cup on Saturday, prop Eddie Su'a and winger Misi Taulapapa will drop out of the 18-man squad named by Stuart to accommodate the return of Seymour.

"I've come through everything OK so I'll be out there on Monday night," Seymour said. "It's going to be good to get back on the field. The boys have been going really well this season and I just want to help them out."

With his two-year deal at Cronulla ending this season, a long-term injury would have been disastrous for Seymour after he was banished to play for Engadine Dragons in the local A-grade competition last June. Former Maroons centre Josh Hannay and prop Michael Greenfield suffered the same treatment under Stuart. Both are no longer at the club but Seymour forced his way back into first grade before the end of last season and hopes to win a new NRL contract for 2009.

"Things are going good here at the moment but I'm off contract this year so I've got to make the most of my opportunies," Seymour said.

Also out to push his claims for a new contract is Souths halfback Jeremy Smith, who bore the brunt of criticism for the Rabbitohs' failure to score a try against Manly last weekend. Smith was the fourth player to wear the Rabbitohs No.7 jersey in as many matches after Craig Wing's injury in the season opener against Sydney Roosters. Eddie Paea and Ben Rogers were dropped in successive weeks but Souths coach Jason Taylor has shown faith in the Kiwis international.

New Zealand Test second-rower David Fa'alogo is another Souths player looking to put in a strong performance when he makes his first appearance since being sent off in last September's final-round clash with the Roosters and subsequently suspended for seven matches.