For Cronulla prop Toby Rudolf to get within 80 minutes of a grand final he had to give up his sandals.

Rudolf has managed to overcome a year battling with a turf toe to recapture his best form at just the right time ahead of the Sharks' preliminary final clash with Penrith on Saturday night.

His sandals won't be coming to Stadium Australia, but given Rudolf at one point thought the injury could end his NRL career, they're a sacrifice worth making.

"I was wearing Birkenstocks for the last two weeks and that made it a bit sore, so I had to go back to wearing shoes unfortunately," Rudolf said.

"I'm a big Birkenstock guy and the Birkenstock tan will unfortunately fade away. 

"But it's a massive relief to just walk around [and] do some extra training without worrying about a toe flaring up."

Rudolf churned through a season-high 160 metres from 15 runs in last week's win over the Cowboys, and he will need to produce a similar effort if Craig Fitzgibbon's side is to upset the Panthers.

But after a lot of hard work to overcome his toe injury, he's in a position to do so.

The all-action forward first suffered the injury in April of 2023 and underwent surgery, but it kept flaring up late in the season. 

"I was needling to get through games. I couldn't train all week so I was just throwing on the boots and having a throw at the stumps when the weekend rolled around," Rudolf said.

"It takes me back to when I was travelling around Europe (in the off-season).

"I was in Amsterdam in a bed, laid up because I couldn't move and wondering if it would be the end of my career.

"I wasn't meant to get surgery and I couldn't see a way out. How could I go from being bedridden from just walking on the thing to doing a pre-season or playing a full season?"

Rudolf missed much of the pre-season due to the injury and, by his own admission, ended up with a slow start to 2024 before hitting his straps in recent weeks.

He's passed 100 run metres in seven of his past nine games, culminating in his best showing of the season against North Queensland, after doing so just once in his first 11 matches to start the year.

"The first half of the year was probably the worst football I've played," he said.

"I had to change some things. I stayed off the drink, I made sure I did all the little things right and it just took a long time to pay dividends.

"Fitzy showed faith in me through this entire campaign and I'm just glad I could show some faith back and put a performance like that together for him and my team."

Rudolf left no stone unturned in his recovery. As well as banning booze and sandals, he consulted with the head physio at the Australian Ballet.

"They gave me some programs and exercises to do that really made a massive difference," he said.

"I noticed that almost simultaneously.

"That got the ball rolling. I'm not even playing with tape on it now.

"It was a long process, a long road and there were doubts on the way, for sure, but Fitzy and the medical staff and the team all showed faith in me. 

"And when you have people like that giving you the time, it can only be a good thing and I'm glad to repay it."

Few are giving Cronulla much of a shot of toppling the three-time defending premiers but if they are to pull off the upset, Rudolf leading from the front against the likes of James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota will be crucial.

Penrith smashed the Sharks 42-0 earlier this season (although Rudolf did jokingly point out he missed that game due to a knee problem) but with Fitzgibbon's side earning its first finals win together after four successive defeats it's been freed up from pressure and expectation.

"The coaches are smarter than me, they get paid more than me, they'll think of the answers," Rudolf said.

"I'll just put my best foot forward and prepare like I have all year. Make those right decisions — that's all I can do.

"It's a massive monkey off the back [to win a finals game]. It's alleviation of pressure.

"We can go with the best teams and we deserve to be here."