Penrith second-rower Liam Martin can vouch for the old adage that a week is a long time in rugby league.
Martin left the field with an ankle injury against Melbourne that threatened to end his season and rob the Panthers of a State of Origin representative on the run to the finals.
Seven days later, the popular Panther not only took his place in the side against South Sydney but he scored the match-winning try that confirmed Penrith would claim the minor premiership for the second time in three years.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo will present Penrith with the JJ Giltinan Shield at their last home game of the regular season on Friday, rather than in the final round in Townsville, where the Panthers will likely rest key players.
Scans allayed concerns about the severity of Martin's injury but in a perfect world, he would have missed taken some time out to rest his lateral ligaments, which had been torn.
The second-rower wouldn't hear of it.
"The first couple of days after (the injury) were pretty painful and I couldn't really walk on it, but it just kept getting better and better," he told reporters.
"Four days out from the game, I said to the physios that I wanted to see if I could play.
"You don't really need (your lateral ligaments), apparently, and you can just strap it up and get on with it."
His 16 teammates in Thursday night's clash with South Sydney will be glad he did.
Two bombed tries threatened to overshadow Martin's miraculous recovery, and with the game in the balance as the final minutes ticked down, the 25-year-old was fast becoming the villain for Panthers fans.
"They were butcher jobs," Martin said of his two in-goal knock-ons.
"I was kicking stones for 75 minutes of the game going 'geez I've cost the boys the win'."
But Martin made amends by crashing over from close range to break the deadlock with two minutes to go and seal a thrilling win.
"I was so glad to get over the line," he said.
"When I scored the third one, all the boys were like, 'oh my god, we were going to spray you after the game'."
Taunting from his teammates wouldn't have been new for Martin.
As one of the bigger personalities at Penrith, Martin often finds himself on the receiving end of the Panthers' banter - not least since his injury.
"It was carry-on from him (against Melbourne)," co-captain Isaah Yeo said of Martin's ankle woes.
"Even as he was going up the tunnel with the two trainers on either side of him, he realised he could actually put weight on (his ankle) by the time he got to the dressing room.
"He got better each day. He was in there annoying everyone at the start of the week as normal, so we thought he'd be sweet."
As for the key to his recovery, Martin has a theory.
"It might be the new boots," he said.
"I got them this week so I might have to trade them with the training boots and get a new pair."
