St George Illawarra captain Gareth Widdop remains hopeful of a return for the first week of the NRL finals as he recovers from injury.
Widdop is now two weeks into his rehabilitation from a shoulder dislocation suffered in their round 22 loss to Parramatta.
The Dragons have been cautious not to set an official return date for the star English five-eighth, but have confirmed he will not require surgery on the injury.
However Widdop was out of his sling on Friday, and said he was well on track to recover.
"I would like to be back for the finals, there's no doubt about that," Widdop said.
"There was never really a set date, everyone is different with these sorts of injuries - it's how you respond to rehab.
"At the moment I'm doing everything possible, I've had no setbacks. It's just a week to week and day to day thing how I'm pulling up. Hopefully not too much longer."
"But I won't be rushing back, it's not the right thing to do if it's not right."
Kurt Mann was solid in the Dragons' win over the Wests Tigers on Saturday night, but Widdop's fitness is vital if the Saints are to return to anywhere near their dangerous early-season form.
The pair linked regularly in the opening rounds of the competition as the Dragons shot to the top of the ladder, and set up 14 tries between them in the first six rounds.
They remain in fourth headed into this weekend, but likely still need to claim victories over Canterbury and Newcastle to claim a second chance come finals time.
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