The biggest worry for Mansour was the chance he could lose his left eye. "I had so many worries and questions, like 'what would the scars look like?', and would I lose my eye?','' Mansour told Fairfax Media on Saturday. "My biggest fear was I wouldn't be able to see. "When they opened me up during the operation, my face looked like a jigsaw puzzle. There were four fractures, but with three of the fractures the bones had shattered. I ended up with three titanium plates and 18 screws. I'm now half-man and half-robot. Brave face: Mansour in Nepean Hospital. "When they finished, my eye was almost shut, but I was deprived of sleep for nearly 48 hours because they had to keep testing my eye every 15 minutes with colour and object identification tests.''

Mansour was spared the horrendous procedure of having surgeons peel the skin back from his face. Apart from a wonky left eye, and a lighter beard, Mansour looked his usual picture of health as he enjoyed coffee at a mate's cafe in the inner-western suburb of Marrickville. Even a few Souths fans looked excited to discuss footy with the player regarded as one of the most likeable in the game. As Panthers fans celebrate the return of halfback Nathan Cleary for Thursday's clash against his old man's Wests Tigers, Mansour has pencilled in a return as early as round 17 against the Warriors, but more likely round 19 away to Brisbane. The other big question will be whether Mansour is still at the foot of the mountains beyond this year.

His manager Sam Ayoub said he hoped to have something thrashed out ''in the next few weeks'' while his international client was sidelined and free of on-field distractions. Loading While Parramatta have for several months been linked to Mansour - there were flat-out denials about the club's interest from coach Brad Arthur late this week - and the Wests Tigers have cash to splash on a representative left winger, the 27-year-old would love to ink a three-year deal and become a ten-year player at Penrith. Panthers supremo Phil Gould recently admitted on Nine's 100% Footy he was happy for Mansour to find the best deal possible ''and I'll tell you if I can match it''. There was also a recent report Gould had given winger Akuila Uate a tour of the Panthers facility. "I don't look into any of that stuff,'' Mansour said. "In a perfect world I'd love to stay at Penrith, but I haven't agreed to anything, and I haven't even sat down with my manager.''

As for 2018 finally being the year of the Panthers, Mansour, who has been at the club longer than anyone except Sam McKendry, said of the second-placed club: "I think we do have the team to win it. I don't want to pump up our tyres because we're only halfway through the season, and there are some tough games ahead, but we do believe we have something special brewing.'' Penrith were too good for Newcastle on Friday night and will go close to selling out their home game on Thursday when Cleary returns from a knee injury in time to face the team coached by his dad, Ivan. Nathan quipped this week that they would not car pool to the game, but that he might be tempted to deflate his dad's tyres.