Melbourne Storm star five-eighth Cameron Munster still has multiple hurdles to overcome in a bid to prove his fitness for Friday night's clash against the Wests Tigers.
Munster was one of the more surprising names to grace team list Tuesday, with it believed he was still at least a week away from returning to the park.
Being named means he is close though, and the Storm will be sweating on him taking to the park on Friday as they look to snap a two-game losing streak, which has seen the men in purple suffer shock losses to the Canterbury Bulldogs and Gold Coast Titans, conceding 38 points at Robina on Saturday afternoon.
Munster playing became even more important on Tuesday evening when star halfback and New Zealand national team representative Jahrome Hughes failed to have a dangerous contact charge overturned at the NRL judiciary.
That means he will not only miss Friday's game with the Tigers, but will also be forced to sit out the upcoming Round 5 blockbuster against the South Sydney Rabbitohs the following week.
News Corp's David Riccio, speaking on SEN Radio, said that Munster has to pass two fitness tests before playing, with surgeons needing to first clear him to have a pin removed from his finger, before passing through the captain's run training session on Thursday.
Hughes being out means last weekend's debutant Jonah Pezet should come straight back into the side for the Storm, although he will be listed to play at halfback rather than five-eighth at this stage.
If Munster is also ruled out, then Tyran Wishart will be called into the side to play in the halves alongside Pezet, while it's tipped that boom youngster Sualauvi Faalogo could make his debut from the bench after impressing during the pre-season trials.
Melbourne will give a better idea of their final side to play the Tigers 24 hours before kick-off at 6pm (AEDT) on Thursday evening.
