Titans maestro Scott Prince must race the clock to return for a mouth-watering duel with Johnathan Thurston after being ruled out of Saturday night's clash with Melbourne.

Gold Coast coach John Cartwright will keep Prince in cotton wool at least until the Titans play Thurston's Cowboys in an all-Queensland derby on April 11.

Cartwright on Monday made the call not to further risk his halfback and co-captain's hamstring injury despite giving Prince every chance to play in the 20-12 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night.

"He won't make the trip down to Melbourne," said Cartwright.

"After talking to the medical staff, it's probably a minimum two-week injury so we won't name him this week and give him the extra time to get over it and hopefully he'll be right for the Cowboys.

"We're game three into a very long season so with a muscular injury of that type it can get worse so it's probably much wiser to err on the side of caution rather than throw him in a bit early."

Veteran utility Preston Campbell will retain the halfback role against Melbourne after an outstanding display along with Mat Rogers in the four-tries-to-two win over the Bulldogs.

It was only the third time in 11 matches the fledgling Coast club has won without Prince.

While Prince will miss a No.7 clash against fellow Queensland hopeful Cooper Cronk when the Coast play the Storm at Olympic Park, he has his sights set on going head-to-head with Maroons teammate Thurston.

Prince was controversially overlooked for the first two matches of last year's State of Origin series before gaining a late call-up to partner Thurston in the halves when Darren Lockyer withdrew before game two.

He took Thurston's No.7 jersey for the decider but played a limited role after breaking his arm in the first half.

With Lockyer back fit and firing and Thurston in signature form, Prince may be fighting for a place on the Queensland bench at best.

The Titans are set to name an unchanged 17 on Tuesday but may also include centre Josh Graham after getting the all-clear from a specialist after suffering a head knock in round two.

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