Clock ticking for De Belin to face Broncos

St George Illawarra enforcer Jack de Belin is no certainty for their do-or-die NRL final against Brisbane.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor admitted the NSW Origin back-rower was racing the clock to recover from an ankle injury in time to take on the Broncos in Sunday's elimination final at Suncorp Stadium.

With the Dragons missing prop Paul Vaughan and battling a hoodoo - having not beaten the Broncos in Brisbane since 2009 - de Belin's presence shapes as vital to their chances.

"Jack is no certainty," McGregor said.

"But he trained this morning and he's travelling with us.

"We'll assess him at tomorrow's captain's run. He'll have right up until game day to prove his fitness."

The 27-year-old ran for the first time on Friday, giving Dragons staff hope he'll be passed fit.

De Belin suffered the injury in the first set of last week's win over Newcastle and played through the pain for the next 80 minutes.

"He's a pretty good healer," McGregor said.

"It's an important time of the year for us, he's done everything professionally to get back on the field."

De Belin will need pain-killing injections to take the field, but McGregor said he wouldn't be risked if medical staff were not confident he could get through the game.

Encouragingly de Belin was able to run without a pain-killing injection at training and McGregor hoped the seven-day turn around would be a positive.

"He's had an entire week to recover from the injury, so he's going to be in better shape," he said.