Simply hearing about Kurt Capewell's tender injury was enough to bring tears to any grown man's eyes at Cronulla.
But Sharks prop Aaron Woods said his NRL teammates didn't really wince until Capewell displayed the surgery to his ruptured testicle at Tuesday's training session.
Still, Woods is confident Capewell will prove his fitness for Friday night's semi-final against Penrith now that the prized utility is armed with a special groin guard.
Capewell was named on the Sharks bench for the knockout final after returning from the delicate ailment suffered in their round 25 win over the Bulldogs.
"He was pretty fragile last week but I didn't think it was that bad until he came to training (on Tuesday) and he showed the boys what it looked like," Woods told Sky Sports Radio.
"And I have to say, it wasn't too good boys."
Cronulla are keeping their fingers crossed Capewell can play after training strongly on Tuesday with the protective guard that was fitted after internal stitching to the sensitive area.
Woods said Capewell's guard was similar to a cricketer's box.
"One of the boys did flick him in that region and it sounded like he had a box on," he said.
The Sharks are hopeful of Capewell's availability after co-captain and inspirational back-rower Wade Graham suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week's qualifying finals loss to the Sydney Roosters.
"He trained well yesterday with the box on and hopefully he gets through," Woods said of Capewell..
"He is a real asset to the club. You can throw him in anywhere whether it is centre, back-row or lock and he does the job."
Woods backed Luke Lewis to fill the void left by Graham in what may be the retiring Sharks veteran's final game.
"Wade Graham is a big loss but Luke Lewis is a vocal leader," Woods said.
"And he hasn't mentioned anything about it maybe being his last game.
"He doesn't think there needs to be that extra motivation."
