Gold Coast prop Jai Arrow will uphold the label as one of the league's toughest by playing through an 8mm quad tear for Queensland in Wednesdays Origin I clash.
Arrow is set to carry the grade-one tear into the series opener, with Titans medical staff revealing he will still be against the clock in battling fitness following scans.
It comes as no surprise that Arrow remains confident he will take the field for the Maroons, having carried broken ribs into a match last year against the Warriors.
Arrow trained with the Maroons on Thursday at Davies Park and was iced up soon after training concluded, with the enforcer admitting he's taking a more professional approach to his rehabilitation.
“To be honest, it’s the best I’ve ever looked after an injury,” said Arrow, who strained his upper leg just 24 hours before the Titans’ clash against Manly last Friday night.
“I’ve been getting treatment twice a day and every time I get some spare time in my room, I put the Game Ready (icing and compression device) on my leg for as long as I can.
“There’s a few times I’ve been using the Game Ready for a few hours just sitting with it strapped on.
“I’m giving the injury the best opportunity to be 100 per cent come Wednesday night.”
Fellow Maroon Daly Cherry-Evans managed to cut his recovery time by three weeks after inducing a stronger approach to mending an ankle injury and has inspired Arrow to do the same with his own recovery.
Arrow admitted he gave little attention to doctors following scans of the tear as he was hungry for a taste of Origin and wasn't looking to accept any setbacks.
“I don’t know the exact size of the injury,” he said.
“To be honest I didn’t want to hear the extent of it. When the physios told me, I kept my ears shut and said, ‘Don’t worry I will be sweet for Origin, I will do what I can to get it right.
“It makes a massive difference when you treat an injury properly.
“When you are growing up as a young kid, you think you are 10-feet tall and bullet proof and you get away from all the little things with recovery and icing your niggles and injuries.
“It (injury management) is definitely something I’ve become more professional with over the past 12 months, that’s for sure.”
Highly regarded physiotherapist Brien Seeney believes that Arrow can be fit in time for Origin I.
“It would usually be considered a minor muscle injury,” Seeney said.
“The specific location of the tear plays a significant role in determining function level and recovery time.
“Some players may not miss game time with a minor quadriceps or hip flexor injury like this, but more commonly they would require one-to-three weeks on the sideline to fully recover.”