ACT Brumbies winger Henry Speight is being hard-headed about his Olympic Games hopes, confident the titanium mash used to fix a fracture in his skull won't ruin his chances of getting to Rio.
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Speight is in a race against time to prove to Australian sevens coach Andy Friend that he can help chase a gold medal in Rio later this year despite facing another five weeks out of action.
He will have stitches removed from his head this week after a head collision with teammate Christian Lealiifano almost destroyed his Olympic aspirations. Surgeons peeled back the skin at the top of Speight's head and down his forehead to inject a titanium substance into the fracture after it was decided using a metal plate would not work.
"If you get two coconut heads banging against each other, one was bound to crack open," Speight said with a grin.
"It was a bit of a freak injury ... there's a titanium mash in there with 20 little screws. My left side, after breaking my jaw a couple of years ago, is my bionic side.
"I'm not going to try to rush back from this ... I just have to come back in good condition, whether that's with the sevens or the Brumbies.
"I don't know what tournaments I'll be available to play sevens, we'll see. I will try to compete for a spot. I'd really love some more game time."
Speight was supposed to be with the Australian sevens team in Hong Kong this weekend to press his claims for an Olympic call-up. His injury will likely limit him to either one or two tournaments on the world series circuit to convince coach Friend he's worthy of selection.
Friend is weighing up whether to stick with sevens specialists or add in an injection of Wallabies talent to boost the gold medal chances.
Nick "the Honey Badger" Cummins will play in Hong Kong, while Quade Cooper has also played in tournaments in Las Vegas and Vancouver.
Any players not in the sevens program but hoping to play in Rio must declare their intentions by April 30 by nominating themselves to ARU officials.
Speight is taking the setback in his stride and the flying Fijian will return to training as soon as his stitches are removed.
Doctors told him he was not allowed to sweat until after the stitches were taken out to avoid getting an infection.
The silver lining, at least for the Brumbies, is that Speight could be available for a potential Super Rugby finals campaign if he doesn't make it into the sevens Olympic squad.
"I'm just taking it as a challenge.Obviously, it's a lot harder for me now because I could have been on the plane with the team to play in Hong Kong and Singapore, but I'm not," Speight said.
"But those are the cards I've been dealt and I'll play them. I can't control it, all I can do is really look forward to getting fit over the next seven weeks.
"The crack in my forehead basically went the length of my eyebrow. They just said I did a good job of it.
"I can go back to running this week when the stitches come out. They pulled my face down and then did me back up ... I'm not a good spectator. But it is what it is. Hopefully, I can come back firing whenever that is."
