Crediting his rapid recovery to vitamins and pints of Guinness, Sydney Roosters lock Victor Radley admits he thought he was "gone for sure" after fracturing his shoulder blade.
But Radley has since proven himself wrong, helping fire the Roosters into an NRL preliminary final against Melbourne with the opening try of their semi-final victory just three weeks after fracturing his scapula.
The second-rower suffered the injury during their round-26 loss to Canberra, when Sam Walker and Brandon Smith also went down with serious knee injuries.
Walker and Smith's seasons ended with anterior cruciate ligament tears, but Radley, a self-professed good healer, said he was "stoked" his scapula fracture was a "good break".
The 26-year-old won't require off-season surgery.
"I thought it must have subluxed or dislocated or something because I was in that much pain, so I thought I was gone for sure," Radley said on Monday.
"And then I got my scan and it was a break.
"Funny enough, I was stoked with that. (The doctor) rang me and said ‘Let’s get this thing healed, it's a good break’ and I know I’m a good healer, so I was stoked with the result."
Asked what his recovery plan looks like ahead of their preliminary final, he said: "Just heaps of vitamins and Guinness, I've been told - 10 pints."
Radley, who confesses to still being sore, only played 30 minutes before sitting on the bench with "splinters in my arse" in their semi-final win over Manly.
"I got a try early, which kind of made it all feel a little bit worth it," he said.
"I started getting a bit sore at the end of my first stint, and then I didn't have to go on in the second half, which was a positive.
"Watching (Penrith beat the Roosters in a qualifying final) the week before was ... yeah, you don't want to watch these big games."
Radley, unable to take inspiration from Roosters legend Cooper Cronk, said conversations with other club icons Boyd Cordner, Anthony Minichiello and Mitchell Aubusson helped him get over the line.
Cronk famously pushed through the pain of a broken scapula to win the 2018 grand final, but Radley said the two injuries could not be compared.
"Our physio told me straight away, 'Nah, you can't even compare to Cooper's because Cooper broke his shoulder blade in half'," Radley said.
"I just laid up at home and 'Boydo' said to ring ‘Mini’ and ask him for some advice, so I did that and it started to heal after a week, two weeks feeling better, then (I thought) screw it, it’s do-or-die.
"I spoke to 'Aubo' right at the start of the week and just asked, 'Am I selfish for pushing myself to play or am I selfish for saying I better get myself right?'
"He just said, 'Hey, if you think you can play, do everything that you can to play. You tell people you're gonna play, and if you get ruled out, you get ruled out'.
"He reassured me that that was the right thing to do."
