Panthers hail Edwards' miracle NRL return
Penrith coach Anthony Griffin has hailed rookie fullback Dylan Edwards' miraculous effort to return from a knee injury two weeks early.
Edwards was expected to be out for up to a month when he tore his medial ligament in the Panthers' round 25 NRL loss to St George Illawarra.
However the 21-year-old missed just one match and was one of his team's best in their dramatic 12-point elimination final win over Manly on Saturday.
Edwards showed no ill-effects of the injury on his way to a 143-metre, five tackle-bust performance.
Griffin said it wasn't until Edwards completed the team's training run on Thursday that he was convinced the No.1 was ready to take on the Sea Eagles.
"He got out of a brace on Wednesday when he had his first run and then our captain's run yesterday," Griffin said.
"It's just a really great effort from him and really pleased for him, the way he's rehabbed himself and our staff, to be able to get a key player back that quickly."
Griffin said Edwards proved his status by completing the last few training sessions in the lead-up to the clash.
"I saw him run Wednesday and he was good," Griffin said.
"He got straight out of the brace, got to top speed. It was looking 3-4 weeks after St George and within 10 days, he pulled up really good on Thursday.
"Thursday was key, that he pulled up okay and didn't have soreness."
The win means the Panthers advance to a semi-final against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium, with a clash against Melbourne awaiting the winner.
Asked whether skipper Matt Moylan would be ready to return from his leave of absence to take on the Broncos, Griffin said: "I haven't got an obvious answer for you there. We'll wait and see what happens."
