Sharks back-rower Kurt Capewell will take the unusual step of wearing a protective guard around his groin after rupturing a testicle in the final round of the regular season.
Capewell, who underwent surgery to repair the delicate injury, has been named on Cronulla's bench for the sudden-death semi-final against the Panthers at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
Painful: Kurt Capewell.
Scott Sorensen will replace Wade Graham in the starting side after Graham tore his ACL in the qualifying final defeat against the Roosters.
The 24-year-old Capewell, who was 18th man in the Sharks' historic title two years ago, didn't even know he had sustained the injury after a collision with Matt Frawley in Cronulla's win over the Bulldogs.
"For all the men out there we all know what [a knock] feels like [to that area]," Capewell said. "It was much the same and I felt I could run it off. It didn't go by the end of the game and by the time I got home it was three or four times the size it usually is.
"I went to have an ultrasound that night, but they weren't too sure what to do. They could see there was something wrong, but they didn't know if it was a rupture or not. By the time they got in there the next day they found it was ruptured, so I'm glad they went ahead with the procedure.
"I asked the doctor to fix [the rupture] and leave the swelling!
"I'm feeling pretty good. I was fully in training [on Tuesday] and I'll have until captain's run to be 100 per cent. I'll wear the appropriate protection. It's a serious matter and we don't want it to be re-injured."
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