Tate McDermott is racing the clock to be available for the Wallabies' opening Test of the year, with the scrumhalf revealing hamstring complications have delayed his return.
If fit, the Queensland No.9 would be a leading contender for Australia's Nations Championship clash with Ireland at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on July 4, adding to his 50 caps.
But McDermott says his recovery from the serious hamstring injury he suffered last September against New Zealand in Auckland hasn't gone to plan.
"It's been a bit of a bit of a long journey to be honest," McDermott said on Tuesday at a joint ticket promotion with the Dolphins NRL side.
"I remember speaking to the media earlier on and I was really positive with how I was going, I was feeling good, but we had just a couple of little setbacks around the hamstring I got reattached.
"It wasn't kind of doing what it was supposed to do really, but (I'm) feeling really good now."
Five regular Super Rugby Pacific matches remain before three rounds of finals, including the title decider on June 20, with sixth-placed Queensland next hosting the fifth-ranked Brumbies on Saturday night.
The Reds suffered a heart-breaking loss to the Blues in Super Round last weekend, with Beauden Barrett kicking a golden point penalty goal to secure victory.
McDermott said he was aiming to play before the end of the regular season.
"I'm hoping to get a game in before the regular season finishes but I still can't give you an exact date," he said.
"I've integrated back into the team training and so I've just got to start putting the final pieces of the puzzle together really, but I'm positive that'll play a game for sure. I just don't know exactly when."
The livewire playmaker said he had had to "learn to run again" after surgery to reattach his hamstring to his pelvis.
"Then all the complications that come with kind of learning to run again and making sure that the muscles in and around that hamstring don't do too much or don't do too little," he said.
"I've been incredibly fortunate to never be injured in my career, and never even had a hamstring strain or anything like that but I'm well across what it looks like now and I've been in the gym for six months trying to get my hammies going again."
McDermott's Reds and Wallabies halves partner Tom Lynagh has also been restricted to just one Super match after a series of injuries, with the latest his calf.
"He's had bad luck this year really and his body has let him down a little bit," McDermott said of the 23-year-old.
"Tommy's in a similar boat to me in terms of our return to play - we're both not too far away - but I just want to see him back out there playing and so does supporters of Queensland and Australian rugby.
"They want to see the player he was last year come back."
