The surgery went well and now Canberra Raiders star John Bateman is aiming to be ready for round one.
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There was talk the NRL second-rower-of-the-year could miss five games, but Bateman felt that wouldn't be the case.
One thing he will miss is the Raiders' trip to the NSW south coast to visit areas that have been devastated by the bushfires.
It was something he was desperate to be a part of, but the surgery most likely means he'll stay in Canberra to do his rehabilitation.
Bateman had surgery on his left shoulder on Wednesday to fix a problem he was born with.
The 26-year-old has been unable to do any contact training, with the Raiders hopeful the rest might allow his shoulder to improve.
But with less than five weeks until round one - when the Green Machine host Gold Coast at Canberra Stadium on March 13 - a decision was made for Bateman to go under the knife.
Bateman knows exactly what to expect from the surgery having had the same operation on his right shoulder.
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"I spoke to the surgeon after the surgery and he said it went pretty good," he said.
"It's just one of those things seeing how it goes, seeing how it feels ... hopefully it heals pretty quick and I can get back out on the field.
"I'm aiming for round one, but you never know. It's an injury and you never know what's going to happen. That's the aim - to get back for round one.
"That's been tossed up [missing five games], but I don't think it will be that long - from what the physio says it sounds pretty good."
But if he isn't ready to face the Titans, Bateman was confident they had the second-row stocks to cover his absence.
England international Elliott Whitehead will obviously play on one edge, while Joe Tapine, Sia Soliola, Hudson Young - although he's suspended for the first five rounds - Jack Murchie, Corey Horsburgh and even Josh Papalii are options for the other.
"It's probably one of the strongest positions. Obviously Hudson's out with his ban, but when you take him out of the equation we've still got quite a few options there for the position," Bateman said.
"If I aren't ready then the lads will be ready to step up."
Having been unable to train fully, Bateman will be champing at the bit when he does return - look out whoever he's up against.
He said the group was focused and driven towards taking that one extra step after making last year's NRL grand final.
Bateman said their 2019 finals run had proven they could handle big games.
"We've had a taste of it now. We know what it's like. We know what the big games are like," he said.
"Last year people [said] you haven't played in big games so you can't win big games.
"We've played in big games now. We've got no excuse about that. We know where we want to go. We know what we're aiming for."