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Sydney Roosters are confident Todd Carney's groin injury won't be a setback and have predicted the extra rest will actually help him through a long NRL season.
Carney has been sidelined for around eight weeks, ruling him out of all of the club's trials and putting him in doubt for the NRL's opening rounds.
Roosters coach Brian Smith admitted injuries were never good news, but said he and Carney were as comfortable with the situation as possible.
Fullback Anthony Minichiello said the Roosters might even see the benefits of the Dally M medallist's extra few weeks off come finals time.
"100 per cent. He's obviously got another big season coming up this year with rep footy again," said Minichiello of Carney.
"It does take its toll when you play all the way to the grand final and then add on more games at the end of the season with the Aussie group.
"The more rest he gets, the better he'll go as the season gets on.
"The coaching staff have talked about it and he might as well get it done now instead of playing 10 or so games and injuring it during the season which would be a lot worse."
Smith said it was likely Carney wouldn't be back until week three of the competition, but by then he would be fully fit."Anything that requires surgery is some sort of worry but Toddy's calm with it," Smith said.
"He knows about it, he knew what he was doing with it and Neil Halpin the surgeon has done thousands and thousands of these.
"I believe Michael Voss got back for the Brisbane Lions once in three or four weeks (from the same procedure).
"We'll just see how it goes with Toddy, we're not exactly sure and we're not going to rush him."
For Smith, this pre-season has been all about continuing the development of younger members in his squad who are pushing for regular first-grade positions.
His willingness to blood rookies last year paid dividends, with the likes of Kane Linnett, BJ Leilua and Mose Masoe stepping up to the mark.
Smith is hopeful another raw talent, Jonathan Ford, can prove himself in the halves during the trials, although Braith Anasta remains the most obvious choice replace Carney at No.6.
Last year's Dally M coach of the year said his team had come back to training more confident after their runners-up showing.
"I think that's fair to say. At this time last year we had no idea what we were going to do, none of us did," he said.
"We had so much ground to cover, but this time around it's a club that's made a grand final.
"That always gives you a boost and those massive playoff games that we won our way through last year generates enormous confidence in young guys."
Carney has been sidelined for around eight weeks, ruling him out of all of the club's trials and putting him in doubt for the NRL's opening rounds.
Roosters coach Brian Smith admitted injuries were never good news, but said he and Carney were as comfortable with the situation as possible.
Fullback Anthony Minichiello said the Roosters might even see the benefits of the Dally M medallist's extra few weeks off come finals time.
"100 per cent. He's obviously got another big season coming up this year with rep footy again," said Minichiello of Carney.
"It does take its toll when you play all the way to the grand final and then add on more games at the end of the season with the Aussie group.
"The more rest he gets, the better he'll go as the season gets on.
"The coaching staff have talked about it and he might as well get it done now instead of playing 10 or so games and injuring it during the season which would be a lot worse."
Smith said it was likely Carney wouldn't be back until week three of the competition, but by then he would be fully fit."Anything that requires surgery is some sort of worry but Toddy's calm with it," Smith said.
"He knows about it, he knew what he was doing with it and Neil Halpin the surgeon has done thousands and thousands of these.
"I believe Michael Voss got back for the Brisbane Lions once in three or four weeks (from the same procedure).
"We'll just see how it goes with Toddy, we're not exactly sure and we're not going to rush him."
For Smith, this pre-season has been all about continuing the development of younger members in his squad who are pushing for regular first-grade positions.
His willingness to blood rookies last year paid dividends, with the likes of Kane Linnett, BJ Leilua and Mose Masoe stepping up to the mark.
Smith is hopeful another raw talent, Jonathan Ford, can prove himself in the halves during the trials, although Braith Anasta remains the most obvious choice replace Carney at No.6.
Last year's Dally M coach of the year said his team had come back to training more confident after their runners-up showing.
"I think that's fair to say. At this time last year we had no idea what we were going to do, none of us did," he said.
"We had so much ground to cover, but this time around it's a club that's made a grand final.
"That always gives you a boost and those massive playoff games that we won our way through last year generates enormous confidence in young guys."
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