Roosters coach Brad Fittler will consider switching Anthony Minichiello to the centres when he returns from his latest back problem and has suggested the former Test fullback take time off from representative football.
After undergoing back operations in each of the past two seasons, there are again fears for Minichiello's long-term playing future after he was forced to withdraw from tomorrow night's match against Penrith.
While the 2005 Golden Boot winner as the world's best player insists his latest setback is only minor, he has been ruled out indefinitely. The Herald has been told he may be sidelined for up to five weeks.
It is understood Fittler has already raised with Minichiello the idea of standing down from Test and State of Origin football this season, and the coach admitted a move to the centres may be back on the agenda after the 27-year-old rejected a similar proposal during the off-season.
"They actually get pretty heavy contact now, the fullbacks, and most sides have a pretty good kicking games and a good kick-chase team," Fittler said.
"We will see how Mini goes and see how he comes back and just see what the balance is like within the team. What he went through last year involved a lot of trauma so we just want him to have a couple of weeks' rest."
With Minichiello undergoing surgery last year to repair his L4/L5 vertebrae, Sam Perrett took over the Roosters No.1 jersey and was one of the few bright spots of New Zealand's tour of Great Britain after playing in all three Tests following injuries to Brent Webb and Krisnan Inu.
Perrett is likely to again be the Kiwis fullback in the May 9 Centenary Test against Australia but Fittler believes Minichiello would be best served if he didn't play.
"It's not to say that if he stands down from rep footy it has to be for good," Fittler told Channel Nine. "He's got to look after his back, and the last thing he needs is outside distractions."
Meanwhile, Tigers officials hope a positional move from hooker to halfback will ease some of the pressure on Robbie Farah's back and enable him to keep playing.
Farah showed no sign of the back injury which has plagued him in recent weeks as he survived a torrid training session at Concord Oval yesterday, and the Tigers are confident he will play against the Raiders in Canberra on Sunday.
Tigers chief executive Steve Noyce said Farah had almost played in last Monday night's loss to Penrith at Campbelltown but coach Tim Sheens decided he would be better off rested.
"He was running very comfortably, and I suppose the big question now will be how he turns up tomorrow," Sheens said after training.
"It's an injury that it's hard to say what caused it. It could be a bad night's sleep, it could be sitting in a car too long, it could be lifting weights or doing something silly at home.
"It's just one of those things you live with and manage. He has to manage it, the same way guys manage hamstrings and bad knees … it doesn't mean he can't play."
In a further boost for the Tigers, Sheens also revealed that star five-eighth Benji Marshall was ahead of schedule in his recovery from the knee injury that forced him from the field in the opening minutes of the first-round clash with St George Illawarra.
The initial estimate for Marshall's return was round 11 but after the 23-year-old took part in some of yesterday's training session, Sheens said he was likely to be back earlier.
Marshall, who damaged the posterior cruciate ligament just five minutes into his side's 24-16 season-opening win over the Dragons, was originally slated to return in the May 25 clash with the Gold Coast at Leichhardt Oval.
"We are hoping he'll be back earlier," Sheens said. "He's working well but there's no way we're going to take a risk with it. We want him healthy.
"But he's doing a lot of good things, he's already running around and there's no limp and there's no swelling … I'd like to think it would be a bit earlier but I wouldn't put a time on it."
In other news, the chances of the Tigers playing more home games at Campbelltown Stadium have increased after Werriwa MP Chris Hayes announced that the Federal Government would provide $8 million funding for improvements to the ground.
The Tigers are considering doubling the number of home games they play at Campbelltown and Leichhardt Oval to six each after signing a one-year extension of their deal with ANZ Stadium, Homebush Bay, for this season only.
With AAP
