Gold Coast centre Nathan Davis is hopeful he will be able to return from a horror leg injury in time to try to secure his place in the Titans' round-one NRL side.
Davis dislocated and broke his right ankle at the end of June, only returning to running in the past six weeks.
He's yet to return to full contact, but says he is already eying an Auckland Nines or trial return in a bid to impress coach Neil Henry.
"The leg's feeling great," he said.
"It's coming along slowly but it's not going to take much to get it to full training."
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The former Australian schoolboys' centre played eight games last season before he was injured trying to tackle Canberra's Jarrod Croker in round 16.
His injury coincided with the arrival of Konrad Hurrell on the Gold Coast, who assumed his spot at right centre.
However, given the departures of David Mead, Nene MacDonald and Josh Hoffman, Henry on Monday admitted there were depth concerns in the outside backs.
And Davis will be more than happy to fill the left-centre role.
"I played left when I was younger so I prefer left," he said.
"But I was chucked into the right side and I just took it with both hands."
The 21-year-old was also confident he did enough last year to develop as a first grader, and wasn't concerned the injury would prove to be too much of a setback.
"I don't think I'm at square one again," he said.
"A broken ankle is just a speed hump and I got over it. It took me a couple of months to get over it but I'm back now and I feel good."
Davis is likely to have to overcome English import Dan Sarginson if he is to immediately resume his first-grade career.
The 23-year-old Sarginson, a member of England's Four Nations squad, has scored 41 tries in 119 Super League matches.
He is expected to arrive at Titans training a week before they break for Christmas, with Henry keen to test both his fitness and cohesiveness in ball-work sessions.
