But towering lock Fabian Holland may be confined to the sideline.
They both picked up injuries during the 22-18 loss to Taranaki in New Plymouth at the weekend.
Hurley limped off with a hip complaint. He copped a stray knee to the area but was making good progress, coach Tom Donnelly said yesterday.
"We'll know more in the coming days as he gets through a bit more later in the week," Donnelly said.
"We certainly missed him on the weekend [when he came off]."
Holland limped off moments later. He is a key player in the tight five.
"It was unfortunate that the two of them went bang-bang. But that's footy. And I thought the guys that came on did a fantastic job for us."
Holland tried to shake off a rolled ankle and packed down at the next scrum. But it was clear he could not continue and, despite making some progress, it may be "a little bit touch and go for this weekend".
Hurley’s absence forced Otago into making some tough decisions.
They went into the game with six forwards and two backs on the bench. There was no specialist fullback cover, so Jona Nareki dropped back to fullback while loose forward Will Stodart replaced Holland in the second row.
"We always knew that if we lost a back early, it could challenge us.
"But we'd been looking at weather forecasts all week, and it was pretty miserable conditions up there.
"So we took the chance to get more forwards on the field to add a bit of energy. And early in that second half, we made all those forward changes and that gave us a lift."
Otago co-captain Sam Gilbert missed the game with a toe injury and is going to be out for at least a couple of weeks. He has torn a ligament in his foot and is in a moon boot.
Dunedin captain Joe Cooke has been called into the squad as midfield cover.
"He's been playing really well for the development team, so it just gives him an opportunity now at the next level."
Josh Timu has a leg complaint and is another week or two away. The centre has had a horror run of injuries and has clocked just six games of professional rugby in the past two years.
Loose forward Tom Sanders is still getting concussion symptoms and it is unclear when he will return.
Prop Abraham Pole missed the game against Taranaki for family reasons, but will be available for selection this week.
