THE man earmarked as Newcastle fullback Kurt Gidley's deputy next season is still battling a chronic hamstring injury he admits will dog him for the rest of his career.

Knights utility back Todd Polglase last played an NRL match on May 12.

His only other game time since then was 40 minutes of Premier League against the Dragons on August 3.

The rest of the past seven months have been spent in the rehabilitation room, on the physiotherapist's table, or bouncing back and forth between different specialists.

After playing in seven of the first nine games this year, the 26-year-old Kurri Kurri product tore his left hamstring in the final sprint of a training session before the team's round 10 bye.

He has adhered to a slow-and-steady strengthening program since pre-season training kicked off and he is regaining some long-lost confidence.

"It's been a real pain in the arse," said Polglase, who required a hamstring graft after previously undergoing reconstructive knee surgery while at South Sydney in 2004.

"I've had too many diagnoses so I've lost track of what they call it. I've got a degenerative hamstring and that's what the graft was for.

"I've torn it a few times and it's just so weak, it takes me a long time to build it up then if I overload, I go backwards. It's just one of those things you can't really put your finger on, so you just try to manage it the best you can.

"I'm just easing back into it, but it's been going pretty well, touch wood."

Injuries restricted Polglase to just three games in two seasons at the Bulldogs (2002-03) and he played 37 for Souths (2004-06) before returning to his junior club this year. Covering several positions, he proved a valuable member of the backline last year until he broke down.

"When I tore my hamstring, they couldn't really get to the bottom of it, then they thought it was more to do with my back," he said.

"But I went to a couple of back specialists in the off-season and they seemed to think my back wasn't as bad as what they thought and that it was more my hamstring after all.

"I've tried a few different things and it's starting to slowly come better. I didn't have any surgery but I had three different types of injections and I'm slowly strengthening it again.

"The break and the off-season have given me the chance to work on getting it right. It's been a long process and I've had a couple of scares with it in the off-season where I've overloaded it a bit, so it's always going to be something I've got to manage."

The departure of Milton Thaiday (Central Charlestown), David Seage (Wynnum Manly) and Nathan Hinton (Wests Newcastle), and missing out on signing Nick Youngquest from Penrith, has left the Knights with little depth at fullback.

But coach Brian Smith believes Polglase or perhaps Dragons recruit Wes Naiqama have emerged as the likely replacements when Gidley is on representative duty or injured.

"We thought we saw an opportunity in some games we did at training last Saturday morning that Polly [Polglase] could have exploded and really hit top pace to make a break," Smith said.

"I asked him why he didn't and he said he knew what we were talking about, but because we'd done a bit of speed and power testing and jumping the previous few days, he was a bit tight . . . but I'm looking forward to him showing us again that he can do it."

Polglase, whose two-year contract expires at the end of 2008, said his primary focus was his fitness and he would worry about game-related goals closer to next season.

"There's no other fullback after Kurt so I'll probably be the back-up but I haven't really thought that far ahead. I'm just looking to get fit and get on the field somewhere for the start of the year," Polglase said.

"I really don't think I'll be pushing for a spot in the starting line-up straight away. You can't not play for as long as I did and walk straight into the starting line-up so hopefully I can push for anywhere where someone gets an injury.

"It's helped that they've tailor-made training to suit everyone individually, so blokes like me who've had a lot of injuries, training is incorporated into your injury management.

"There's been a lot of changes in the 12 months I've been here, and some big changes with training in the last six weeks, but it's been really impressive and I've been enjoying it."