Injured Raiders hooker Josh Hodgson has revealed his chances of playing in Canberra's do-or-die semi-final clash against the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night are "slim".
Hodgson fronted up to a large media contingent at Raiders HQ on Tuesday morning and confirmed ligament damage and bone bruising to his left ankle.
The England international's ankle injury occurred just after half-time in the Raiders' 16-14 loss in last weekend's qualifying final to the Sharks.
Hodgson was carried from the field when the trailing leg of teammate Aidan Sezer came into contact with the hooker's lower leg when attempting to prevent a Luke Lewis line break.
"I'm honestly playing it day by day and just seeing how it settles down each day. It settled down pretty well [on Monday] but now it's a bit sore again so I'm taking each day as it comes," Hodgson said.
"The chances [of me playing] are pretty slim but I'll be doing everything I can to be right for the weekend.
"There will be plenty of icing at all hours when I have to jump up and feed the little man – a bit of multitasking – so there will be a lot of TLC involved in getting it right."
Hodgson said he'll give himself up until Friday's captain's run before making the call on whether to play or not.
The 26-year-old said the deal breaker will obviously be his ability to run.
"I have to run. If I can run then I'll be sweet," Hodgson said.
"It'll be devastating to miss out. It's been a big year and I want to be playing every game for the boys and the club.
"That comes down to making a conscious decision over whether I'm right or not."
Hodgson said his immediate fears when it first occurred was that he had broken his ankle.
"It didn't feel great. I went into the sheds and tried to loosen it up a little bit. I could only put pressure through my heel, I couldn't push down on my toes," he said.
"Thankfully when I was hobbling around I figured I hadn't broken it because I wouldn't have been able to put any weight on it."
Canberra's contingent of Intrust Super Premiership Mounties players trained in front of Hodgson as he spoke to the media.
While the training group contained veteran forwards Shaun Fensom and Paul Vaughan, back-up hooker Adam Clydsdale was a noticeable absentee.
It's expected that if Hodgson fails to be ready for the Panthers clash that ex-Knight Clydsdale will come into the Raiders' 17 for his fifth NRL game this year.
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