Rugby: Wallabies ace unsure on return date

Drew Mitchell is taken from the field after injuring his ankle. Photo / Getty Images

Drew Mitchell says he's not even close to pencilling in any prospective comeback date, despite reports that the injured Wallabies star will turn out for a Sydney sub-districts team in August.

Mitchell suffered a horrific ankle dislocation in the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby loss to Queensland last month, and is still recovering from the trauma of seeing his foot at right angles.

The high-speed collision with Reds forward Scott Higginbotham left Australia's best-performing winger in a race against time to be fit for the Rugby World Cup starting in September.

Few, except perhaps Mitchell, give him any realistic hope of featuring in the global showpiece, so it has come as a surprise to the 55-test flyer that he is being billed as a star attraction for Balmain's Ladies' Day.

He and fellow Wallabies ace Matt Giteau made a cameo appearance for Balmain last year, but Mitchell on Friday said the Bugs had "jumped the gun a little bit" in distributing a media release this week, saying he'd make his comeback for the Third Division club on August 13.

"I haven't even started to bear weight on my foot, so I'd be mad to start saying which team I was going to play for and against which opposition," he told AAP.

"I'm only three weeks into what was considered a 12 to 14-week injury and even that could change.

"I haven't even sat down to look at what footy will be played then.

"Obviously, Super Rugby will be finished but I'm not even sure what stage the Sydney club rugby will be up to, whether there'll be finals or anything like that.

"It's a lengthy process and I don't want the pressures of saying what type of footy I will be playing.

"Apart from the physical nature of the injury, there's also mental hurdles you have to clear that come with seeing your foot distorted like that.

"So I'll play when I'm physically and mentally ready."

Mitchell was keen to clarify his position because "if it's out there in the public domain that I'm playing on August 13 and I don't, then there will be question marks around that, too".

Mitchell had been in outstanding form for the Waratahs before being injured, scoring six tries from nine games and shaping as a World Cup certainty.

- AAP