After missing the first All Blacks squad of the year through injury, Ethan Blackadder's hopes of donning the black jersey in 2023 have not been ended - by any means.
Since an impressive debut campaign in 2021, Blackadder's career has been hampered by injury woes.
Named 2022 Crusaders Player of the Year in their sixth straight Super Rugby title win, the loose forward was sidelined by a shoulder injury for the All Blacks' international season.
Return in the early rounds of 2023 Super Rugby, Blackadder, 28, suffered a calf injury that kept him out until the quarter-finals.
To rub salt into the wound, his comeback lasted just five minutes against Fijian Drua, before a quad injury ended his Crusaders campaign.
All up, Blackadder has played just five matches this season and completed 80 minutes only once.
In the loose forwards, Chiefs bolter Samipeni Finau has received his maiden All Blacks call-up, and will compete with the likes of Shannon Frizell and Luke Jacobson to wear the No.6 jersey.
With just five tests scheduled before this year's Rugby World Cup in France, time is ticking for Blackadder to prove his fitness, should All Blacks selectors want him to experience test match intensity before being thrown in the deep end.
As they prepare for their Rugby Championship campaign without him, forwards coach Jason Ryan insists players currently out with injury can still contend for selection, until they are definitively ruled out.
"The door's not shut on Ethan," Ryan told Newshub. "He's had a reasonable injury, but the door's not shut.
"The door's not shut on anyone, unless they're ruled out through injury for a long time. We've got to keep our options open and keep connecting with people like that.
"Jack Goodhue's another one and Dave Havili - they're injured or have been injured in Jack's case.
"We're going to go deep in this World Cup. Injuries have shown that you're going to need three or four [players per position] - you've got to keep them on."
After the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup, the All Blacks squad of 36 will be trimmed to 33 for their World Cup campaign, beginning September 8.
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