Melbourne’s 46-0 win over the Roosters could get even sweeter, with coach Craig Bellamy hopeful star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen will be available for the Round 18 match against the Knights.
Papenhuyzen hasn’t played since he was knocked out in a sickening tackle by Tyrell Fuimaono in Magic Round, but he is reportedly feeling a lot better as he closes in on his long-awaited return.
The 23-year-old has suffered ongoing concussion-related symptoms since the hit, but has upped his training with the team in recent weeks.
He was the form player of the competition and a certainty to make his State of Origin debut, having scored 80 points in six games, and his return would be a huge boost for a side that has won 13 in a row and is flying towards the minor premiership.
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READ NOW“I think he is (a chance), but I’m not one of our medical staff,” Bellamy said of the Round 18 game.
“He’s really sparked up the last two or three weeks, he’s feeling a lot better and he’s doing a lot more with the team and not just training on his own. I think he’s a chance, but having said that, that might get pushed back a week or two.
“I think he’s getting really close now and it’ll be good to have him back. It’s going to be good for him too because it was a bad knock that he got and hopefully he’ll come back okay from it. It’s taken a long time and it’s taken a lot of patience from everyone, especially him, but he’s going well now.”
The Storm became the first team to score 40 or more points in 10 games in the same season thanks to their ruthless shutout win over the Roosters, with Papenhuyzen’s replacement, Nicho Hynes, starring from the back.
What made the performance even more special was the fact they endured a hectic week of travel that saw them rush home from the Sunshine Coast for the first time in more than two months, and then fly in and out of Newcastle on Thursday before they returned to Melbourne where they were locked down.
“There’s not a whole heap to look forward to over the next nine days being inside, but at the end of the day, that’s what it is at the moment,” a disappointed Bellamy said as he revealed mini holidays over the bye had been cancelled.
“It’s a pretty resilient group, this group. We learnt a few things from last year and it’s carried on again this year. Whatever comes their way, they seem to handle it pretty well.”