RUGBY LEAGUE
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John Dugan has his eyes firmly set on NSW's No 1 jumper but the amount of time he will spend on the park for St George Illawarra this season remains uncertain.
The representative fullback continues to monitor a troublesome ankle, injured during the Dragons' round one loss to Melbourne at Jubilee Oval.
He missed just the one game - sitting out their round two defeat to Wests Tigers - and made a premature return against his old club Canberra to help the Red V to a thrilling comeback victory.
Dugan subsequently spent the rest of the weekend in a moon boot to rest the ankle and restricted himself to light training on Tuesday.
He plans to test out the joint in a full session on Wednesday and is hoping to be fit for Saturday's home clash with the Sea Eagles at WIN Stadium.
But he concedes it's an injury he will likely carry with him for most of the year.
"I'm out of the boot now, I didn't run on it today (Tuesday) but I did all my rehab stuff and everything I needed to do to get through today and hopefully I'm back on the field tomorrow (Wednesday)," Dugan said.
"I was in the boot for a couple of days just to settle it down because I came back a bit early.
"I had a bit of scar tissue which was always to be expected," he said.
Dugan missed a string of games early in 2014 while recovering from a knee injury but went on to make 18 appearances for the Dragons, while also juggling State of Origin duties.
He has made no secret of the fact he wants to pull on the Blues jumper again in 2015 and is intent on doing everything in his power to remain on Laurie Daley's selection radar.
He slotted into the centres during last year's NSW series win but is considered a contender for the state's fullback spot this time around.
With Jarryd Hayne out of the equation, Daley will be forced to find a new No 1.
Dugan will need to beat the likes of young gun Matt Moylan, former teammate Brett Morris, and veteran fullback Brett Stewart to the gig.
Coincidentally, he will go face-to-face with two of the rival contenders in the coming three weeks.
The Dragons will host Manly this weekend and play Canterbury two weeks later, pitting Dugan directly against both Stewart and Morris in the space of a fortnight.
The Dragons livewire is well aware of the situation.
"Snake (Stewart) has always been one of the better fullbacks in the game, so it's definitely a challenge," Dugan said.
"I love the games where you're playing against rivals for certain positions."
The Dragons will hold a community open day at WIN Stadium on Wednesday to kick off celebrations of the club's 100th first grade game.
Club members and the general public are invited to watch the team train and then mingle with the players, kicking off at 5pm.