Hope it comes true!
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/articles/2004/07/23/1090464830757.html
Bailey boost for Dragons
By PAUL SUTTOR
July 23, 2004
INJURY-RAVAGED St George Illawarra's premiership prospects received a huge boost yesterday when international prop Luke Bailey was cleared to return for the finals.
Dragons coach Nathan Brown said club medical officer Dr Martin Raftery gave him the good news about Bailey's torn pectoral muscle, which was thought to be a season-ending injury.
Bailey is an outside chance of being back on the field for the round-25 stoush with Manly on August 29, but if not he will aim to return in Premier League while the first-graders have the bye in the final round or in the first week of the play-offs.
After losing star players Lance Thompson (ankle), Mark Gasnier (shoulder) and Shaun Timmins (cheek) until the final rounds, news of Bailey's surprise comeback was just the tonic for the joint venture club's coach.
"Bull will play. The doc told me today that he'll definitely be right at the end of the year," Brown said.
"He has been through this same injury before and that's why the doc is confident and Bull is confident."
Bailey, who missed most of the 2001 season with a similar pectoral muscle problem, has not played since his injury in the 21-10 loss to Manly on May 9.
Before yesterday's positive prognosis, the Dragons were resigned to being without Bailey until 2005 because of fears he would aggravate the injury if he attempted a comeback before season's end.
Brown said rookie forward Justin Poore (broken thumb) would also be back in the first grade squad for the finals assault and the Dragons wanted to seal a play-off berth before their big guns returned.
"We've got a lot of good players to come back but it's no good worrying about them coming back if we don't make the finals," he said.
