On the mend - Cameron Smith aiming for quick return to Leeds Rhinos action

Smith was hurt last month, but could be cleared for a return to action later this week.

The 21-year-old loose-forward, who was ever-present before his injury and in the best form of his Rhinos career, spent three days in hospital and underwent surgery following the “freak” training ground accident.

“It is four weeks last Sunday since I was operated on, so maybe a couple more weeks,” Smith said of when he expects to be back.

“I have just got to get a scan to see the proof of the healing and then I will be good to go.

“I can pretty much do everything, other than the contact side of things.

“Hopefully we will tick those boxes [this] week.”

The facial injury hasn’t prevented Smith running or working in the gym, so he is able to maintain his fitness and will be available as soon as the wound is fully healed.

He said: “The first week was pretty precautionary, because I was fresh from surgery, but I have been gradually working my way back in and I am pretty much back up to full-time training now.”

After being unable to eat for several days after the incident, Smith is now putting weight back on.

“For the first week or so it was pretty painful,” he recalled.

“I pretty much lived off scrambled eggs for a full week, but literally overnight the pain really eased off and I’ve been building my strength back up eating-wise.

“I lost a few kilos, I was in hospital for three days because they couldn’t operate on me straight away due to Covid.

“I lose a bit of weight, but I am putting it back on now.”

The broken jaw has so far cost Smith three appearances and, with Leeds winning all those games, he admitted he will have to fight for his place when he gets the all-clear.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, but it’s just one of those things,” said Smith who made his Rhinos debut in 2016.

“Rugby is a contact sport and sometimes you have to take these setbacks.

“You have got to use them wisely.

“We were struggling for a couple of games, but it looks like we’ve kicked on now and I will be putting my hand up to get back in the squad and get back doing my bit.”

The fact the injury happened in training made it harder to take, but Smith stressed nobody was at fault.

“It was just a freak accident,” he recalled.

“I just fell into Mikolaj [Oledzki] and copped his upper arm around my face.

“It was just a freak thing, not intentional or anything.

“Mik and I are pretty close, he felt a bit guilty.

“We have a laugh about it now, but when it was pretty fresh it was frustrating because I want to kick on and make this a really good year.

“So even though it is a little setback, hopefully I’ll be back and doing what I was doing before.”