Phil Gould fears Jarome Luai could hurt his chances of a potential grand final appearance, predicting Melbourne Storm to target his injured shoulder.
Luai has been named in the Penrith Panthers' side to face the Storm in Friday's preliminary final less than a month after dislocating his left shoulder in round 26.
Gould called it a "miracle" that Luai may potentially take the field on Friday night at Sydney's Accor Stadium.
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"If it were a grand final, yep, you throw your last man in … (but) I don't think they need Jarome to beat the Melbourne Storm," he told Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus podcast.
"If they're going to get one game out of him, I'd want it to be next week and not this week.
"He might be sweet. The word is he did contact on Monday and came through it OK.
"That being said, It's something of a miracle for him to be coming back in a month for a game like this. He will certainly be inconvenienced by it."
Just days after ruling Luai a "million-to-one" chance to play in the prelim, Gould said the playmaker is a "million-to-one" chance of being 100 per cent fit.
"There's a million to one chance of him being 100 per cent fit, I'll guarantee you that," he said.
"Short of a miracle, that (dislocation) causes significant damage in the region, and will eventually require a reconstruction at some stage. It takes four-to-six weeks to get the pain out of that and then get some strength back into it so it won't happen again, or to reduce the risk of it happening again.
"I imagine he'll play with strapping which will inhibit his passing, he's not a front-rower or a winger who's just got to catch the ball and run with it, he is a five-eighth whose game is all about passing and illusion.
"He's also playing on the edge of the field where I can imagine (Nelson) Asofa-Solomona will be lining him up. There's a couple of big boys that'll be heading in his direction so he'll need protection on the inside and the outside."
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While Luai has been named as the Panthers' starting five-eighth, Gould did not rule out a last-minute line-up switch.
"They (Penrith) might start with (Jack) Cogger and have Luai on the bench in case it looks like becoming their last game," he said.
"If the Melbourne Storm are trying to protect Harry Grant in the first 20 minutes, someone's got to be protecting Jarome Luai if he plays.
"They're all saying he's going to play (but) I'm still saying I'll be surprised if he runs out in the starting line-up. Maybe they put him on the bench just in case and try to get through with 16 players."
Gould suggested the Panthers will switch Stephen Crichton onto Luai's side of the field to help him defend when the Storm are in possession.
Roosters great Brad Fittler explained how Luai's injury will impact his defensive abilities.
"Ivan (Cleary) won't play him if he doesn't think he can defend," he told Wide World of Sports' Freddy and the Eighth.
"The big thing is you can't reach. If someone runs at you and you tackle and you're tight, there's no pain in it, but the moment you reach and your arm gets pulled, you'll see his arm drop by his side and after a while he'll be able to pick it up again.
"It's (Luai's shoulder) not going to get much better over a week. This injury takes a couple of months for all the pain to go away. If you're thinking of playing him in the grand final, you play him (in the prelim) and see how he goes."
Fellow league great Andrew Johns also backed the Panthers' selection of Luai.
"You roll the dice," Johns told Freddy and the Eighth.
"Jarome has to play because you'd want to play (him) in the grand final. So if you get through this game and they win, he'll play in the grand final."
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