Well-respected Penrith trainer Hayden Knowles has labelled Dylan Edwards as one of the toughest players he's seen, detailing the incredible hurdles the fullback overcame to play in the Panthers' grand final win over the Rabbitohs with a broken foot.
Despite almost being ruled out with the injury, Edwards was one of Penrith's standout performers in the 14-12 win in the decider, running for 230 metres and rising above a barrage of traffic thrown his way by the Rabbitohs' defence.
Reflecting on the courage of his players in the aftermath of the victory, Ivan Cleary reserved special praise for Edwards, revealing he'd barely training for "about a month" as he battled through the foot injury.
Knowles, one of the game's most revered high-performance professionals, said there was a genuine belief from Panthers coaching staff Edwards shouldn't have played.
"He couldn't walk all week, actually for a couple of weeks. We would play and he would have the foot up for the rest of the week on crutches, in a boot," Knowles told SEN.
"We did a fitness test with him where everyone was that nervous but you don't want to show the players that your nervous but a lot of staff thought he wouldn't get through it.
"We allowed him to just go out on the (training) field, visualise a defensive set, show us how you want to move, he was pretending he was chasing a kick."
Edwards spent the entire week in the lead-up to last Sunday's decider in a moon boot as Panthers players and Cleary deflected questions about his fitness for the finale.
Knowles said the ultimate decision was left in Edwards hands just over 24 hours before kick-off, but when it was made it proved a "special moment" in the Panthers' preparations.
"We just trusted him and actually asked him 'are you in?' and he said 'I'm in'," Knowles revealed.
"We turned around and yelled out to Ivan 'he's in' and Ivan just started clapping.
"Nathan Cleary was hiding in the bushes watching, he didn't want to come and put pressure on it either but as soon as he knew he was in he came down and congratulated Dyl and it was a really special moment."
Edwards has long been considered Penrith's best trainer and fittest player, but Knowles highlighted the mental steal the 25-year-old showed to play through the pain in the most important game of his life.
"(It proved his) toughness physically but mentally he is probably one of the toughest I know," he claimed.
Along with Edwards, props James Fisher-Harris (knee) and Moses Leota (calf) were also under injury clouds for the grand final, while Clive Churchill Medal winner Nathan Cleary held off shoulder surgery in the back half of the year to help lead the Panthers to glory.
Edwards said the players have bred a culture of toughness and resilience, which he believes has been cultivated by the upbringing many of the players have endured in their formative years.
"There were so many of our boys that were playing with injury. If that was a normal week, there would've been maybe five or six of them that wouldn't have played, that's the level we were at," he added.
"I have so much respect for them but they've done that their whole lives.
"Everyone was saying we were doing it the tough way through the finals series, which we did.
"But that's not tough compared to how a lot of them have grown up. I have so much respect for every one of their stories... like Stephen Crichton slept on a floor for about 10 people until the age of 18. I don't think he had a bedroom until he was 17 or 18.
"That's tough, these boys have grown up tough, it just suited them to go the tough way."
Knowles, who is also part of Brad Fittler's NSW Blues staff, has been pivotal to the Panthers' charge towards this year's premiership.
It's been rumoured he will shift to the Newcastle Knights next season to join Adam O'Brien's staff as high-performance manager.
