Richard Agar says Kyle Eastmond's Leeds Rhinos debut will take place in the next couple of weeks after he didn't feature in their opening round win over Wakefield Trinity.
Eastmond has returned to the 13-man code after a decade away and has been getting up to speed with the Rhinos since his move to the club.
Ultimately, Agar decided against throwing him in round one, but said his return to the field would be sooner rather than later.
"He's played no rugby for six or seven months, so apart from getting him match conditioned we've got to get him ready and raring to play in our teams and our calls," Agar explained.
"So what we didn't want to do is dump him in a team when he's physically just not quite there and in tune with what we're doing. It's not been an easy build-up for us too. We just want Kyle, from our perspective and his perspective, to be fully ready to go when he gets in there. I don't think we'd be doing any favours if we did that to him."
When asked when his debut is likely to be, Agar added: "A week or two, it shouldn't be much more than that. We'll make a decision midweek this week or midweek next week."
Meanwhile, Agar provided an update on the club's injured players who have missed the start of the season.
The likes of Konrad Hurrell (calf), Harry Newman (leg) and Ash Handley (knee) are all nursing injuries.
But, on the basis there are no further injuries, Agar should have a fully fit squad in around a month, excluding Jack Walker who looks set to miss the entire season with a foot injury.
"Konrad will be two or three weeks, Newman will be at least a month, Holroyd will probably be another month.
"Ash Handley, again he's two weeks into a six-week injury. Apart from Kyle, in the next week or two, we've nobody for three or four weeks then they're not too far after that."
