Wayne Bennett will wait until after South Sydney's final round match before deciding who fills Latrell Mitchell's No.1 jersey in the NRL finals.
Mitchell remains in the Rabbitohs' Queensland hub after copping a six-game ban for the high shot that ended both his and Sydney Roosters centre Joey Manu's season.
Bennett reiterated on Friday the Souths superstar had remained in high spirits, despite the furore following the tackle and threats made against his family.
Mitchell will be put to work guiding the team's younger players, as well as acting as opponents in training drills during the NRL finals.
But the bigger question for Bennett and South Sydney is who will play in Mitchell's position come the finals.
Blake Taaffe has been named at fullback for Souths' clash with St George Illawarra on Saturday night, earning first crack at the job with the Rabbitohs resting eight players.
If Taaffe impresses the job will almost certainly be his, with Bennett's desire to see how he fits into the Rabbitohs' structure with so many players out.
Souths have previously leaned on Cody Walker at No.1 earlier in the year when Mitchell was serving a four-week ban, but breaking up Walker and Adam Reynolds in the halves would seem unlikely.
Benji Marshall also looms as the other wildcard as he is able to play in the halves if there was a desire to move Walker.
Alex Johnston can also play fullback and expressed a desire to move there earlier in his career, but appears certain to stay on the left wing where he is most potent.
"We haven't got a lot of time left, we've got one game tomorrow and four more weeks so we'll just see what happens tomorrow," Bennett said.
"I've got a couple of options if I need to use them. We'll just see how it all goes tomorrow."
For all Mitchell's undeniable brilliance, the Rabbitohs were able to play their best football last year without him as Walker made a point to play both sides of the ruck and have more touches at five-eighth.
With Corey Allan playing No.1 before his move to Canterbury, Walker set up 13 tries and scored five in Souths' last eight games in 2020 as they averaged 32 points per match.
But Bennett was coy on whether Souths could flick the switch back to that approach if Taaffe holds the No.1 spot.
"We've just got to get through tomorrow night and we'll all be a lot wiser and make better decisions," Bennett said.
