Ramanauskas has been sidelined since round 18 last season with a low grade cancer in his neck. He commenced a gradual pre-season program in late November and has slowly increased the intensity over the past four months. He is expected to play no more than one half tomorrow night against Brisbane. ""The type of player that he is – he has great skills and great awareness of where everyone is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he came on and played very well. He is one of the few players that could do that,"" Lucas said.
Lucas said that although the team is looking forward to Ramanauskas’ return, the match is still a pre-season game. ""It certainly does give us a lift and I am sure if it was a normal home and away game everyone would be bursting, but you don’t want to be too over the top this time of the year. Certainly it is really important and everyone is looking forward to it for Rama.""
According to Lucas, Ramanauskas has given no indication to his teammates that he has gone through a rough time with the illness. ""I don’t think he is an over emotional person – he has handle it particular well. You wouldn’t really know he has had any problem. That is the way he has dealt with it. He has taken it pretty much in his stride. He can be a little bit cocky at times so it is almost like – ""what have you been waiting for – I am back!""
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