Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has revealed that Jarome Luai was never really in doubt ahead of the club's preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm.
The New South Wales State of Origin five-eighth dislocated his shoulder in Round 26 against the Parramatta Eels.
While it was believed to be on the minor end of the scale, shoulder dislocations are notorious for needing more time than expected to recover without surgery, and bring with them a significant risk of re-injury upon return.
Luai reportedly told Channel 9 during Penrith's opening week of the finals - where they won against the New Zealand Warriors - that he would have been fit for a Week 2 semi-final had the Panthers lost that game.
The Panthers went on to hammer the Warriors though and the extra week ensured Luai would be fit to play the Storm, where he formed an excellent halves combination with Nathan Cleary for an hour before being wrapped in cotton wool and put on the bench by coach Ivan Cleary.
The five-eighth was tipped to re-injure himself by multiple leading doctors ahead of the game, but instead was able to run and tackle effectively.
Cleary said he did have to check himself at one point during the week, but that the Panthers always believed Luai would play against the Storm.
โVery courageous, not just physically but mentally, the way he has approached this whole injury,โ Cleary said in the post-match press conference.
โFrom the moment he came off that night, saying all the positive things. That's the thing, everyone was talking about it this week, but for us he wasn't really in doubt.
โI had to check myself a couple of days ago, I had to think about it a little more from what everyone else was saying.
โBecause honestly, I get it, there's some management of risk there, but he just went 100 per cent in everything.
โThat certainly helped him to be able to play like he did tonight.โ
The Panthers now have another nine-day recovery before taking on the winner of the second preliminary final - to be played on Saturday evening in Brisbane between the Broncos and Warriors - in next Sunday's grand final.
