Jarome Luai's shoulder has survived its toughest test with the Penrith five-eighth getting through the Panthers' preliminary final win over the Storm unscathed.
Luai made a safe return for the Panthers in their 38-4 domination of the Storm, as they booked their spot in a fourth straight grand final next Sunday night.
Penrith's dominance allowed Luai to leave the field with 22 minutes to go on Friday, having shown no signs of last month's dislocation that threatened to end his season early.
The 26-year-old did not require ice nor any special attention on the joint after the game, in another good sign for the Panthers.
"He's very courageous. Not just physically, but just mentally with the way he's approached this whole injury," coach Ivan Cleary said.
"From the moment he came off that night against the Eels he was saying all the positive things and then the next day.
"Everyone was talking about this week, but for us it wasn't really in doubt.
"There's obviously some management of risk there.
"But he just went 100 per cent in everything and I think that certainly helped him to be able to play like he did tonight."
Luai's fitness boost topped a largely clean bill of health for the Panthers, whose only injured player remains Taylan May after he ruptured his ACL in February.
Penrith will enter the decider against either Brisbane or the Warriors in arguably better form than they have their last three grand finals, with Friday night's win the club's biggest ever in a final.
They were also able to beat the Warriors 32-6 in week one of the finals, having conceded just four tries in their past four hours of football.
Friday night's victory over the Storm makes Penrith only the fifth side to reach four straight grand finals since end-of-season deciders became mandatory in 1954.
It also has the Panthers poised to become the first team since Parramatta in 1981-83 to win three straight titles.
But Penrith have long tried to hammer into their players that every year is its own campaign, changing jerseys and off-field themes to try to create a fresh hunger in the group.
"It's so hard to make any grand final. So I'm sort of trying to think along those lines at the moment rather than the rest," Cleary said.
"Because with the rest there's so many people who were involved, people that aren't even in our club anymore who had such important roles.
"But just for this group, and this year and just the season we've had, to be able to go out and deliver that sort of performance ... I'm just very proud of everyone at the club."