Ryan Papenhuyzen is confident he will return from injury for Melbourne's NRL qualifying final against Cronulla in a boost to the Storm's hopes of progressing to a home preliminary final.
Wednesday's training session will conclusively determine whether Papenhuyzen has recovered from a leg injury suffered during Melbourne's penultimate regular-season fixture.
Substituted out of that game, the injury-plagued fullback also missed last week's win over Brisbane to rest his bone bruising, but has since returned to the track.
"I had a little run the other day and felt sweet," Papenhuyzen said.
"We'll get more of a gauge on it (on Wednesday), but I'm confident, the medical staff seem confident, so I should be sweet for the first week."
His likely recovery will be a relief to the Storm, who won't have replacement fullback Sua Fa'alogo back from a hamstring issue until the third week of the finals.
A serious concussion, fractured kneecap, hamstring tear and two broken ankles have combined to restrict Papenhuyzen to only 47 games across the past four years.
The 26-year-old admitted he had again feared the prospect of another long lay-off when he went down with his latest injury against North Queensland.
"It's quite natural, right," Papenhuyzen said.
"Those periods of 'Why me?' probably get shorter every time, but they're still there."
The fullback has become used to looking on the bright side during his injury struggles, pointing out he has managed more games this year than in any other since the Storm's 2020 premiership season.
"Injuries are a part of any sport and unfortunately I've had a few," Papenhuyzen said.
"But at the same time I've had a pretty good year this year. I think I've played 17 games altogether and I'm confident the body's going to hold up.
"It's just about what can I learn out of that (injury) situation. It might be learning something new about your recovery or how to deal with this.
"That's what I'm trying to look at it as: how you respond to it, and what lessons you can get out of it."
Victory against the Sharks would earn Melbourne a week off and a preliminary final against Penrith, the Sydney Roosters, Manly or Canterbury.
The Storm are 5-1 in games against those teams this season, their sole loss coming against the Sea Eagles.
"Finals is a different competition, but at the same time we can take confidence from what we've done, keep trying to learn and push during the week," Papenhuyzen said.
"You can't ask for much more than that."
