South Sydney captain Bryan Fletcher rates himself a 50-50 chance of playing against his former NRL club the Sydney Roosters at Aussie Stadium on Saturday night.

Fletcher, part of the Roosters' 2002 premiership-winning side, has not run since suffering a grade one hamstring tear during Origin II last Wednesday at Telstra Stadium.

The 29-year-old is desperate to play against his former teammates and lead the side following its heart-breaking 31-30 loss to the other 2002 finalist, the NZ Warriors, on Sunday in extra time.

"We play the Roosters again in round 23 so if I miss out this time then hopefully I'll get another crack at them," said Fletcher, who will give the hamstring a thorough test on Thursday.

"But I've been looking forward to this one actually. Nothing spiteful, it's just I spent so many years there and they're good mates of mine.

"I want to see what other teams have been experiencing for eight years."

Fletcher admitted his prospects of playing the third Origin match in Brisbane on July 16 were bleak if he couldn't recover from his injury by Friday.

The back-rower has the ideal opportunity to secure a starting spot for the Blues, who are chasing a 3-0 whitewash, with Ben Kennedy (suspension) and Craig Fitzgibbon (knee) unavailable.

"I'd like to play (Origin) but if I don't play this week then I don't think the NSW selectors would take me on," said Fletcher.

Meanwhile, centre Mark Gasnier and lock John Cross return from injuries to boost St George Illawarra's stocks for their clash with Brisbane at WIN Stadium on Friday night.

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