St George Illawarra remains confident of Gareth Widdop returning to the field for the Dragons after undergoing shoulder reconstruction surgery on Monday night.
Widdop dislocated his shoulder for the third time in five matches in the club’s win over the Broncos in Brisbane in round three.
Dragons head of athletic performance Nathan Pickworth told The Leader that Widdop had responded “really well” to the surgery.
“We spoke to the surgeon late last night and the surgeon was really happy with how the procedure went,” Pickworth told the club's website.
“From here, typically the recovery for these is about four to five months.
“But at this stage I think it’s a bit too early to give a specific return to play time frame for Gareth.
“But I’m pretty optimistic that Gareth hasn’t played his last game for the Dragons.”
The Dragons travel to Newcastle to take on the Knights on Sunday in the last game of round four.
If Widdop is due back sometime in August it will be too late as far as the Dragons are concerned. While McGregor remains the coach the Dragons season will be well and truly done and dusted by then, so somehow I don’t think we will see Widdop in the Red V jumper again.