Tyson Frizell will be given six days away from the NRL to give his battered body time to recover.
St George Illawarra will grant the NSW lock a leave of absence until the middle of next week, in the hope he will be fit to take on Manly next Sunday in Wollongong.
The 25-year-old has suffered two separate rib injuries and was needled up throughout the State of Origin period, and had an ankle scare between the second and third games.
He was not named on Tuesday to face Canberra on Friday night, as coach Paul McGregor said he would never have played him regardless of how he pulled up after Wednesday's decider.
"It was in the best interest of his welfare to be totally honesty," McGregor said.
"Tyson has been playing under a lot of injury cloud for a number of weeks and when you do that you put pressure on the other parts of your body, and other parts have been breaking down.
"To put him out there 48 hours post one of the hardest games he will ever play, you just put him at risk."
The Dragons desperately need Frizell fit in the lead in to the finals.
After their blistering start to the season, they have fallen to seventh and only two wins clear of the chasing pack for the playoffs.
They also warned the Blues before the third Origin camp that Frizell's preparations would be hampered, and urged them to keep his wellbeing front and centre.
"If he feels well next week and the body is healed, he'll play," McGregor said.
"If not, then he won't play the following week.
"Our team needs him. He is one of our experienced representative players. But we need him healthy, and if he's not healthy, we need to get him that way."
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