South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has indicated Latrell Mitchell is almost a certainy to return from his hamstring injury at fullback in the coming weeks.
The earliest estimates suggest the State of Origin star could be ready to go again as soon as Round 5, with South Sydney set to clash with the Sydney Roosters next weekend in the latest installment of the Book of Feuds.
Even if it is later than that date, Mitchell is the certain option to return in the number one jersey.
Gray's form, at any rate, gives Bennett the ability to keep Mitchell sidelined for as long as needed to ensure he is 100 per cent ready to go.
But the more pernient question really should be whether Gray actually hangs onto the number one jumper or not.
Diminitive in stature, Gray has played well above his experience over the opening four rounds of the season, helping South Sydney to a stunning win over the Penrith Panthers on Thursday evening to kick off Round 4.
While he was almost unarguably among the top players on the field in that game, it's not a one-off fluke performance from Gray, who has clearly taken his game to the next level under the coaching of Wayne Bennett.
The game against Penrith saw Gray run for 172 metres, add six tackle busts and a line break. His average for the season though is 213 metres per game, while he has added a pair of line breaks, a pair of tries, 16 tackle busts and a try assist.
It's the ball-running from the back, particularly given the size disadvantage he takes into most games, which has proven the type of player Gray is though.
Someone who will work hard, get down and do the dirty work, and go above and beyond for his teammates.
There is no surprise in the correlation between metres from the back four and success. Penrith's back three - in whichever combination they have been - have all cracked the top ten for average run metres in the NRL during each of the last four seasons.
Mitchell's best season in that regard was unsurprisingly 2021, when he made 141 metresper game. Still not up to Gray's mark for this year, although the sample size just a month into the season is small.
It's what's not on the stats sheet which helps his case as well. His work around the ball, and totally off it in defence, has been first rate.
Mitchell's career high of 141 metres per game doesn't describe the influence he has on the ball in other ways. Certainly, he has more try assists, try involvements, and other second phase plays that Gray simply doesn't at this point of his career.
That will be argument enough for Mitchell to come back into the side, but this is a true case of talent against work ethic, and with South Sydney building a somewhat backs to the wall mentality, the work ethic could well win out, even if it doesn't straight away.
There is little doubt Mitchell going to the back will only shift Gray to the bench, but the question must be asked given the youngster's form whether the team is better on the whole with both players starting.
And the answer could well be yes.
The reason? A role Mitchell has played before at the highest level of the game with wild success.
Cast your mind back to the 2021 State of Origin series. The Blues selected three fullbacks, with Tom Trbojevic and Latrell Mitchell in the centres.
Only, Mitchell and Trbojevic were not standard centres.
They were given a licence to roam by Brad Fittler and the coaching staff, and roam they did. They tore Queensland apart, going searching for early ball, having a licence to create chances, and that's just what they did, running for around the 200-metre mark in each game of the series, and ensuring Queensland were on the back foot more often than they weren't.
If a Queensland State of Origin team couldn't control a free roaming Mitchell, then what chance exactly do club teams have?
The answer is miniscule, and when you consider South Sydney have Cody Walker in the halves, there is no doubt around the ball going in the right direction - hitting Latrell early in tackle counts while defensive outfits are still setting themselves up and not expecting the risky plays to come out.
Cody Walker is one of the smartest players in the game. He reads it brilliantly, and you only need to look at his record breaking try assist season to understand that.
If Mitchell gets it right though, it's not a risk. It's an investment in scoring points.
That is what Mitchell does for fun at his best. He is a special, special talent, and there may well be a school of thought that suggests he is far better used as a roaming centre than anything else.
It's also an investment in Mitchell's injuries, with centres doing less running than fullbacks.
Wayne Bennett will make his call, but don't be surprised if it's one that could change in the coming weeks following Mitchell's return.
