Sam Burgess faces an uphill battle in his bid to recover from shoulder surgery for the start of the NRL season.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs star injured his shoulder during England's Four Nations clash with Papua New Guinea.
It was thought initially that Burgess would not need an operation, but the injury failed to heal as hoped.
The delay means that he is now struggling to be fit for the Rabbitohs season opener against the Roosters.
''I think I'm going to make it but we'll just have to see how it goes," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Everything's on track, but the first four weeks, it just felt like it was going really slow. I'm just not able to do much at the minute.''
Burgess proved a big hit in his first season in the NRL and Souths are hoping for even greater success in 2011 after finally completing the signing of Australian international Greg Inglis.
