North Queensland half-back Johnathan Thurston has given himself until the NRL grand final to prove his fitness for Australia's Four Nations campaign.
Thurston is racing the clock to be fit for the tournament, which begins on October 23, after undergoing surgery to repair ligament damage in his right ankle just three weeks ago.
The Cowboys and Queensland star will remain on crutches for a further three weeks before resuming running and then full training by the start of October in the hope of taking his place in the green and gold.
While admitting he's cutting it fine to recover in time to play in the series, Thurston is confident he's on track to line up against England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in the tournament.
"I'm where I'm meant to be at this stage," Thurston told Sportal on Wednesday.
"The swelling's just about gone and I'm getting movement back in it."
"I can start weight-bearing next week, by the six week mark I should be walking and then I'll start running."
"I'm doing everything I can to make it."
Thurston said he was hopeful his past record for Australia would work in his favour with selectors as he won't have played for more than 11 weeks by the time the tournament gets underway.
The 27-year-old is desperate to be involved in the series after a difficult year at club level but said he won't take any unnecessary risks if his ankle is not 100 percent right.
"I'll have an idea once I start full training. If it responds well and ticks all the boxes I'll be right to play," Thurston said.
"But if it doesn’t respond well I'll pull the pin."
"I haven’t spoken to (the selectors) yet, I'm just doing all that I can to be fit."
"After the grand final I should be doing full training, all the agility work and then I'll know if it's ok to go."
"That's when I'll know for sure. It's too early to tell now because I haven’t started running so once I start running and doing the agility training then I'll have more of an idea."
While Thurston remains an outside chance to line up in the tournament, his Maroons teammate and Melbourne Storm star Greg Inglis is a definite omission.
Inglis, will undergo shoulder surgery once his commitments with the Storm end on Sunday meaning he's no chance of lining up against New Zealand, England and Papua New Guinea.
The 23-year-old joins the Brisbane Broncos on a lucrative deal next season and the club want their new marquee star to go under the knife as soon as possible to ensure he's ready to go for the start of the 2011 season.
"Inglis is expected to have the surgery in the next few weeks, meaning he is certain to be fit for the Broncos when the 2011 NRL season commences in mid-March," the Broncos said on their website on Wednesday.