Canterbury Bulldogs winger Josh Addo-Carr is an almost certain starter for the Bulldogs' Round 12 clash next Sunday against the Gold Coast Titans.
Originally named to make a surprise early return for the Bulldogs against the New Zealand Warriors during the Friday night fixture, Addo-Carr was ultimately ruled out during the captain's run on Thursday afternoon.
Replaced by debutant Blake Wilson, who isn't in Canterbury's Top 30, Addo-Carr is fast running out of chances to push for his spot in Brad Fittler's New South Wales Blues squad, which will be named for Game 1 in Adelaide after Round 12.
Head coach Cameron Ciraldo said he was originally confident Addo-Carr would line up for the blue and white on Friday evening prior to the captain's run, and said there should be no issue with the winger being available for next week's clash against the Titans.
"I was pretty confident he was going to play, but halfway through captain's run yesterday, he just didn't feel right and wasn't able to take the field tonight," Ciraldo said during his post-game press conference.
"We had Blake Wilson on standby but sort of a late change there for us.
"I should be pretty confident he [Addo-Carr] will play next week."
Addo-Carr hasn't played since Good Friday when he was injured against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, but with Daniel Tupou injured and options not jumping out of the shadows, Fittler may still include him in the Origin squad for Game 1.
The winger's absence from the game against the Warriors did no favours to his team, who let in 24 points in what is their fifth loss in the last six weeks.
The Australian Kangaroos representative had originally said he was pushing to be back for Magic Round, but was overruled by the club's medical staff.