Billy Slater is set to miss Friday night's testimonial match for his Melbourne Storm skipper Cameron Smith and North Queensland Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston.
The 34-year-old has been cleared of any serious damage to his troublesome left shoulder after he jarred it late in the first half of the Storm's World Club Challenge win over Leeds.
But it's believed the Storm want to give the Test fullback more recovery time given his shoulder history, which includes missing all of the 2016 season and half of 2015 after two reconstructions.
The Storm's opening round game against Canterbury Bulldogs in Perth is not until March 10.
Melbourne played a full-strength side in the 38-4 rampage against Leeds and expect to run a similar team in the testimonial. However they will have a larger bench to share game time.
They will name their team on Tuesday.
A crowd of about 30,000 are expected to turn out at Suncorp Stadium for the match, which has been called 'A Night with Cam & JT'.
Slater has played alongside Smith and Thurston in Queensland and Australia colours as well.
The match is the first time the two clubs have faced each other since the 2017 grand final, which Smith's Storm won 34-6 over a Cowboys side missing captain Thurston - himself sidelined after shoulder surgery.
