Melbourne fullback Billy Slater will need to fly to Sydney for an official fitness test before he can be ruled out of the Kangaroos rugby league tour.

The Storm released a statement in which it announced Slater would undergo surgery on a chronic groin injury in the next fortnight, sidelining him for four months.

However, Slater's unavailability needs to be rubber-stamped by the ARL and its doctor Hugh Hazard.

"He is going to come up on Wednesday," ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said.

"That was the protocol we put in place. We appreciate Billy's position. We're not trying to undermine the club surgeon or team doctor.

"We always said we would like to talk to everyone that can't make it."

The Queensland speedster, if he is officially ruled out, will be the second high-profile withdrawal from the train-on squad.

St George Illawarra captain Trent Barrett, who requires shoulder and knee surgery, was ruled out on Wednesday.

Earlier this year the ARL informed all clubs their representative players would need to be officially ruled out of the Tri-Nations tour by Hazard.

The decision came after mass withdrawals before last year's Kangaroos tour.

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