Snowden missed several games for Cronulla last season with a bulging disc in his neck that was still troubling him when he arrived for pre-season training with the Knights in November.

It was feared the Test and NSW Origin prop might need surgery that would sideline him for several months.

But the 25-year-old trained strongly and Knights high-performance manager Jeremy Hickmans said there was no reason why he would not be available for the third annual All Stars season opener, to be held on February 4 at Skilled Park.

‘‘Touch wood, he’s been really good,’’ Hickmans said yesterday. ‘‘His injury was something we wanted to address at the beginning of the pre-season, so he did a couple of weeks extra to get him ready for what we wanted.

‘‘He’s been training the house down. We’re really happy with him.

‘‘If he’s picked [for the All Stars], I see no reason why he can’t play.’’

Voting for the All Stars closes at midnight tomorrow and Snowden is at short odds to be Newcastle’s supporter-elected representative.

About 15,000 fans have voted to select 16 players. The squad will be boosted to 20 by automatic selections Benji Marshall and Cameron Smith and two ‘‘coach’s pick’’ players nominated by Wayne Bennett.

As of yesterday, Snowden was more than 2000 votes clear of his nearest Newcastle teammate, back-rower Neville Costigan.

Circumstances have increased Snowden’s chances.

Newcastle backline game breakers Kurt Gidley, Darius Boyd and Akuila Uate are unavailable for the All Stars, because of injuries.

Test props Matt Scott and Petero Civoniceva withdrew last week, leaving Snowden likely to partner Sharks skipper Paul Gallen or Gold Coast co-captain Luke Bailey in the engine room.

Scans have confirmed rookie utility back Peter Mata’utia is likely to miss Newcastle’s pre-season trials with a knee injury.

Mata’utia, who played in five NRL games last season, scoring two tries, tore his medial ligament in a contact drill last week.

‘‘It’s probably somewhere between six and eight weeks ... That probably means he’ll miss the beginning of the season,’’ Hickmans said.

‘‘It’s not ideal but these things happen.’’