Billy Slater will have surgery on his knee in Melbourne tomorrow as Storm officials take a cautious approach following the fullback's World Cup heroics in the UK.
Slater is booked in for a "diagnostic arthroscope" on his left knee tomorrow, but is expected to be fully fit and ready to resume preseason training in January.
The star fullback is not due back at Storm training until January 20, but officials were keen to get the knee thoroughly examined to ensure he was ready for another long year ahead.
"Billy will undergo a diagnostic arthroscope on his left knee on Thursday," Storm head physiotherapist Tony Ayoub said.
"It's a minor procedure to clean up his knee. We wanted to be proactive considering he has six weeks off before he starts pre-season in mid-January.
"The recovery period for this procedure is only 4-6 weeks so this is an ideal time to have it done and it won't affect his preparation for the 2014 season."
Slater suffered the left knee injury in Australia's quarter-final flogging of USA and it was initially feared he would miss the remainder of the tournament with the injury similar to the complaint which ruled him out for six weeks during the 2012 Origin series
But intense physio treatment, from Ayoub who was in camp with the Kangaroos, saw Slater miraculously return for the final just a fortnight later.
The Storm are confident Slater's problem is not serious, but have taken the opportunity to give the 30-year-old surgery to ensure any issues are dealt with immediately and don't affect his 2014 performances
