NO.1 WITH A BULLET
Hard work pays off for ‘Paps’
THE Storm nearly offloaded star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen after the NSW Origin bolter became stuck in a log-jam which could have cost Melbourne the NRL’s form fullback.
Papenhuyzen will make his first appearance in an NRL grand final when Melbourne tackles Penrith at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.
He will then be named in NSW’s 27-man squad for next month’s State of Origin series, capping a dramatic year which has seen him fly into the top echelon of No. 1s.
While Papenhuyzen has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Melbourne, the Storm discussed releasing him after overloading on gun fullbacks including Billy Slater, Cam Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Scott Drinkwater.
After poaching Papenhuyzen from Wests Tigers in 2017, Storm recruitment chief Paul Bunn said Melbourne was unsure if he would make it at the club.
“To be fair to the Tigers, they wanted to keep ‘Paps’ but they thought they would never lose James Tedesco,” he said. “They probably felt ‘if we keep Tedesco, we’re blocking the path for Paps’. They acknowledged he may have needed a chance somewhere else.
“There was talk of us letting him go. We ideally never wanted him sold, but we had a number of fullbacks at the time and we were weighing things up. His agent didn’t want him let go because he had full belief Paps would be the long-term fullback.
“At the time (in 2018), we had four options. Billy Slater was our fullback, then there was Cameron Munster, who wanted to play one, Jahrome Hughes and we even had Scott Drinkwater. Paps was a bit behind all of them, so buggered if we knew what we were going to do.
“But thankfully, Paps never gave up hope. He is such a competitor and he just kept plugging away. Billy retired that year, Munster ended up at five-eighth, Drinky went to the Cowboys and Jahrome moved to the halves, so it all worked out for Paps.”
There are few more dynamic players in the NRL than Papenhuyzen, who has become a fullback revelation with his blistering speed in 41 games since debuting for the Storm in 2019.
But the 22-year-old could have easily been wearing Tigers colours. After being snubbed by Parramatta as a junior, Papenhuyzen came through the Tigers’ development system and under-20s.
But he could not see a pathway to the NRL with Tedesco standing in the way and opted to join the Storm in 2017.
“I made the Balmain development sides and then Harold Matthews, SG Ball and under-20s. But I didn’t think Tedesco would leave the Tigers.
“I moved for the opportunity, it was a big decision. You hear how good Melbourne is. You see all these players come from positions like what I was in and become great players.
“I knew Billy (Slater) would be my mentor and I’ve admired his game for a long time. It was a nobrainer in the end. I made the decision to head south.”
Papenhuyzen produced a near perfect display in the Storm’s week one demolition of Parramatta and was superb in the grand final qualifier against Canberra.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, that’s what I look back on,” he said.
“There were some days where I thought I wouldn’t make it. I didn’t think it was for me. Thinking about that now, it’s pretty silly I thought like that.”