Drinkwater on Latrell watch as Cowboys hunt three straight

Onto the second leg of their 11-day away trip as they move on from Sydney to Perth, Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater said his side would be on high alert against a Rabbitohs outfit struck hard with injury.

The Rabbitohs are missing regular halves Cody Walker and Jamie Humphreys, as well as Campbell Graham and Cameron Murray, but Drinkwater said there was no danger of complacency taking hold.

“They're 4-1, so they're winning a lot of games and their new coach (Wayne Bennett) has come in, he's pretty good. They've made a big turnaround since last year, and they just got Latrell back," Drinkwater said.

“Obviously, they have a few injuries, but I think with who their coach is, any player that's going to step in and play for them, they're going to turn up and just do their job for the team.

“They've got a great attacking players and Jye Gray, he's leading the Dally M at the moment and he's playing some good footy, so I'm sure he'll probably be the key identifier for us on Saturday night.”

After stepping up to fill the void in the halves and delivering a magical match-winning pass to Isaiah Tass against the Roosters, Mitchell has been officially named at five-eighth for the game in Western Australia, with Drinkwater fully expecting him to get plenty of opportunities to show what he can do with his hands on the ball.

“I think he probably lives for those type of moments so he'll be looking to put on a show,” Drinkwater said.

“But there's another 16 players out there who have been playing before Latrell’s been playing there (this season due to injury) - and they're doing their job as well, so we've got to be worried about them.”

In the Cowboys' favour as they attempt to build on their back-to-back wins against the Raiders and Penrith, co-captain Reuben Cotter has been named to return after missing last round with illness.

“He's good, he's feeling way better now, he woke up the day after the Panthers game feeling a lot better," Cowboys prop Griffin Neame said of the side’s forward leader.

"He was crook for about three days there. I think he was pretty bad, but he's good now.

“He trained (on Monday), full training and felt sweet, so he should be good to go.”