The 32-year-old was a member of the recent Rugby World Cup squad after returning home from a spell studying in England but is currently sidelined with a shin injury.

Question marks have been raised about the second row's ability to fully recover from an operation to remove a metal rod but the former Cambridge University captain says he's determined to get back to his best sooner rather than later.

''I'm still training, I want to play rugby and as long as I can do that I'll keep going,'' said Vickerman, who had the rod inserted into his tibia in 2010 in an effort to relieve stress on the bone following a fracture.

''I've just got to see if I can get over this operation and get back on the field. I want to play with the Waratahs and get selected and do my best there.

''There's still a lot of stuff I want to achieve in my football career - I'm not going to cut it short quite yet.''

Vickerman hasn't set a definite date for his return but he's hopeful he could be back running in around a month.

''I think once I'm over the operation I'll go through the rehab process and see where we go from there,'' added Vickerman.

''I'd like to say once I get over the surgery I'll probably start running in a few weeks' time and see if that works for me and then go from there.

''It's been a bit of a frustrating ride over the last five-and-a-half months but I'm confident. You've got to be confident in yourself, you've got to believe in yourself and if I didn't think it was worth giving it a shot I wouldn't be giving it a shot.''