Canberra Raiders co-captain Jarrod Croker could get the all clear to play round one on Monday.
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The 30-year-old will see the specialist about his shoulder then and if he gets the tick of approval he'll be in the mix to face the Wests Tigers in their NRL season opener at Canberra Stadium on March 14.
Croker hurt the shoulder in the Green Machine's preliminary final loss to eventual premiers Melbourne Storm last year, but played out the 80 minutes.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart wanted to repay Croker for that gutsy effort by giving him every opportunity to face the Tigers.
"I don't know, I'll know more Monday after he visits the specialist to let us know exactly where he is physically with his shoulder, but he's improving each week," Stuart said.
"Jarrod's hopeful and I'll give him every opportunity to play because he deserves that respect.
"It was a big injury that he suffered in the opening minutes of the preliminary final.
"He carried that for 80 minutes and deserves every opportunity to get back and start round one.
"I'll give him that, but I'll be guided by our medical advice and what his specialist says."
MORE RAIDERS NEWS
If Croker's not ready for round one, then Stuart has a couple of young options in Matt Timoko and Harley Smith-Shields - who both made their NRL debut last year - while Jordan Rapana could also switch into the centres.
At the start of the pre-season, Stuart called on his large group of young guns - in both the backs and the forwards - to bring a "spark" to the pre-season.
And they've done exactly that.
"They've really kept everybody honest in positions that they're competing for," Stuart said.
"The younger boys that are providing that quality of training, some will get their start at the start of the competition and some might be a little bit later.
"They've now got the opportunity to show me they're ready to play first grade."
While Stuart's named a large squad of 32-man squad for their pre-season trial against the Sydney Roosters at Seiffert Oval on Saturday, all but 10 of them were also named to face the North Sydney Bears in the earlier NSW Cup trial.
Stuart said players who were part of the Raiders' massive injury toll in 2020 would get the chance of more minutes, with the exception of returning hooker Josh Hodgson (knee) - who will play a half.
Emre Guler (ankle), Corey Horsburgh (foot), Bailey Simonsson (shoulder) and Ryan Sutton (knee) all had extended periods on the sidelines and were all named to play in both trials.
"I've got a plan for giving a number of players who were injured last year and missed a lot of football to give them a lot of time and give them an opportunity to show me whether they're ready to play round one," Stuart said.
"There's other players who will play a little bit less time, such as Josh Hodgson, he'll play 40 minutes in one of the trials.
"It's a game to have a hit out, get a little bit of timing and move away into two weeks' preparation for round one."
PRE-SEASON TRIALS
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at 4pm; Canberra Raiders v North Sydney Bears at 2pm. Both games at Seiffert Oval.
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