As if dislocating his hip wasn't painful enough, Chris Lawrence reckons watching this year's State of Origin series and wondering 'what if' will hurt just as much.

Life had been looking good for the Wests Tigers centre - the ink was drying on a new five-year deal, he'd become an Australian international and was in the form of his life with four tries in his first three games.

But late in the round-three clash with Canberra, with the match already won and Lawrence having crossed the line twice, the 24-year-old twisted in a tackle and was left writhing in agony as his hip popped out of its socket.

The injury was so severe, it was initially thought it could end his career.

Despite having to shelve any thoughts of rep football in 2011, Lawrence is hopeful of being back for the Tigers this year.

"I'm slowly getting there. I'm moving around a lot better now, so it's a lot easier," Lawrence said.

"I'm still sort of on the crutches, I'm slowly walking slow distances without them but I'm still predominantly on the crutches.

"I should hopefully have scans in the next four weeks and that'll give me a better indication of what round I should be back, but hopefully the scans come back positive and I can actually put a date on it."

Despite being largely immobilised at home for two weeks after the injury, Lawrence has been back at the Tigers' Concord Oval training ground working on his upper-body strength.

But he admits it's been tough going.

"I'm doing plenty of weights and plenty of upper-body cardio so they're keeping me busy and it's not fun at the moment because I'm restricted with what I can do and it's been tough," he said.

"I had to get out and do something and put my mind to doing something, to get my mind off the actual injury."

Lawrence, who made his Kangaroo debut against New Zealand in last year's Four Nations clash in Auckland, was almost certain to make his NSW debut this year and admits watching from thesidelines has been very difficult.

"It's obviously disappointing and that's (Origin) something I wanted to achieve this year, but it's not going to happen so I've just got to try and make sure I get back on the field this year," he said.

"My main goal this year is to try and push and get the Tigers in the finals and hopefully to a grand final and then look next year for State of Origin."

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