Warrington prop forward Paul Wood lost more than a rugby match when his Wolves team went down 26-18 to Leeds in the Super League Grand Final.
The long-serving Wood, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Wednesday, caught a knee in the groin early in the second half of the match at Old Trafford and had to have a testicle removed after it ruptured.
The father of two, who played on with the injury and made no mention of it during post-match interviews, is out of hospital after undergoing surgery overnight and managed to joke about the incident.
He tweeted: "Ruptured my right testicle, got a knee 1 minute into the second half, had to have it removed."
He added: "Just coming out the hospital to go home... Seriously feel like I've left something?"
Wood's heroism matches that shown by St Helens forward Chris Flannery, an Australian forward who played for almost a full match with a torn testicle for Sydney Roosters in 2004.
