"Fiensy's an international player, there's going to be a need for him to come back into the side somewhere," he said.

"All I can concentrate on is playing good football myself," he admitted.

"If that's the case, hopefully I can stay in the side and there's a place for both us there somewhere.

"An international footballer of Fiensy's standard, I expect probably after a couple of weeks in Shellharbour getting his breath back that he'll be in the mix there somewhere."

Fien has been part of ballwork sessions in Wollongong and will return to the field for the Dragons' NSW Cup feeder club in Melbourne tomorrow.

Priddis was urged to retire by Dragons coach Wayne Bennett at the end of last season, but refused and gained another chance when Fien suffered the broken leg in a tackle against Parramatta in round one.

A title winner under Bennett at Brisbane in 2000 and at Penrith in 2003, Priddis said his experience could be valuable when the heat is turned up during the finals.

"For sure, you need a grey-haired bloke in the side, so I'm that bloke," he said.

"My body is good, the coaches know when to back players off (from training workloads) and when to rev it up.

"I'm probably one of those players that they back off a little bit," he said.

Priddis paid tribute to a fellow member of the 300-game club, Brisbane five-eighth Darren Lockyer, who announced yesterday he intends to play on for another two seasons.

"Locky has done everything in the game, he deserves to if he thinks he can play on for another two years," he said.

"Most great players of that sort of age know when the time is to hang them up."

At the age of 33 and as he prepares for the battle within, as well as a shot at another NRL crown, Priddis said he was yet to decide if his time in the NRL was up.

"I'm not sure yet, I'll figure that out when the time comes," he declared.