Meredith ran down one of the league's quickest players in Elliott Powell at the three-minute mark of the final term, diving full length to reel the speedster in.

Both players left the ground, but the pair quickly returned.

Just minutes later Meredith produced a second outstanding tackle, running 20m to crunch another Albury player.

He again clutched his left shoulder.

"I hurt it at work on (last) Monday," the roof plumber said.

"It (the damage) isn't structural, I've got a floating piece of bone in my AC joint.

"It might be a hairline fracture of the scapula, but I'm not sure."

The 26-year-old is likely to have an MRI scan today to reveal the full extent of the damage.

Whatever the outcome, it doesn't take away from the commitment of the former VFL player.

He was clearly 'busted' when he came off and given the Panthers held a match-winning lead, the question was why would an A grade player be risked, particularly early in the season?

"You love beating Albury, they've been up and about for a long time and I didn't really injure it again," he said.

"With the impact it gets sore and goes asleep for a few minutes so you come back again and you're fine, and then the ball comes back near you and and you get smashed again and go back off."

Meredith started laughing, but his easygoing nature hides a fierce competitive spirit, which every player displayed against Albury.

"Forward line pressure has probably been our biggest weakness over the past couple of years, but with 'Johnno' (Aidan Johnson) and 'AB' (Mackinlay) and those boys flying through there, there's no prisoners, it's all in.

"And our young blokes are awesome."