Injuries hit hard as Storm rolls on

A HAMSTRING injury to superstar fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and a long-term injury to centre Reimis Smith has put a bit of dampener on Melbourne Storm’s thrill of moving to the top of the NRL ladder.

Papenhuyzen, the competition’s leading points scorer, scored a breathtaking try in the second half, but came up clutching his hamstring and took no further part in the game.

The 23-year-old is in serious doubt for the Storm’s Magic Round blockbuster with Penrith Panthers on Saturday night with what club officials are calling a low-grade hamstring.

Despite leaving the game midway through the second half, Papenhuyzen had a major say in the Storm’s 42-6 win over St George Illawarra Dragons at AAMI Park on Sunday, scoring two tries and two goals for a 12-point game, to make it a league-best 127 points on the season.

It was not the only time Papenhuyzen found himself in the hands of the trainers.

In the first half, there was a hush over the stadium when he went down clutching a knee.

He soon jumped up and joined the defensive line before scoring the game’s opening try.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy said with the benefit of hindsight, he might have pulled Papenhuyzen from the game earlier.

“I’m not sure with that knee, even if he hadn’t got the hamstring, whether he would be playing in the next couple of weeks anyway,” he said.

The Storm suffered a massive blow when centre Smith went off with a pectoral tear.

The Storm met stern resistance from the Dragons defensive line in the first half, taking a 12-0 lead into the break, but it was all one-way traffic in the second half.

Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster, Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Trent Loiero all joined in on the carnage with tries.