His shoulder might be busted but his sidestep won't be as useful this week either.
Already relying on a miracle to recover from a rotator cuff injury to play in the NRL grand final, Sydney Roosters star Cooper Cronk is also faced with meeting former club Melbourne.
"I've been trying to sidestep that question for the last 30 weeks. I've always said, 'Let's just talk in hypotheticals and deal with it when we cross that bridge'," Cronk said on Monday.
"And the bridge is here, isn't it?"
Cronk played his first 14 years of his NRL career at the Storm, winning four of seven grand finals on his way to becoming one of the best halfbacks of his generation.
But after making the decision to move to Sydney for love, he stands on the cusp of breaking the hearts of a club he used to have the same feelings for.
"It's going to be a different week emotionally," he said.
"It's going to be a different week physically.
"But I tell you what, if I'm there on Sunday, no matter what's happened between now and then, there's no excuses come Sunday night."
Renowned as one of the Storm's "big three", the 34-year-old was ambiguous on where he stood over the shoulder charge citing threatening to rub the retiring Billy Slater out of his farewell match.
"There's three sides of it for me. One, he's a really good mate; two, I'm in the opposition this week; and three, there's obviously respect to the judiciary as well," Cronk said.
"I've got a different answer for all three of them and I'm not going to say it publicly, but you can work out which one's which."
Then there's his relationship with the other member of the former triumvirate in Cameron Smith, who looked to be met with a cold shoulder after their only clash in June.
Cronk has since denied a falling out between the pair, saying he was reluctant to comment on the matter publicly but that their relationship is "fine".
Asked what it felt like to be facing Smith again, Cronk said: "This is the moment it happens, doesn't it.
"Playing off for one of the biggest trophies the game's got on offer.
"There's so many storylines, we could sit here and talk for an hour and a half about the subplots to everything that's going on.
"But it doesn't really matter what happens between Monday and Friday or what's happened beforehand.
"It comes down to the game and the execution of the game."
