Ryan Papenhuyzen of Melbourne suffered a catastrophic leg injury in the Storm’s NRL finals loss to Brisbane.
Papenhuyzen was only three games into his comeback from a knee injury that had sidelined him for a year. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
After suffering another catastrophic leg injury, Melbourne great Ryan Papenhuyzen was brought off the field on a medicab in the closing seconds of the Storm’s 26-0 finals loss to Brisbane.
Papenhuyzen was caught in a difficult position while making a tackle with teammate Nelson Asofa-Solomona with just over seven minutes remaining.
Play was stopped for several minutes while medics treated to Papenhuyzen, who later suffered a serious broken ankle after being twisted under Asofa-Solomona.
“He’s been admitted to the hospital.” I haven’t seen him, but Frank (Ponissi) reported that he was in a lot of discomfort. “It’s not great,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“I can’t imagine how he’s feeling right now.” He worked hard to get back into the NRL team after putting in so much effort to play again.
It wasn’t a great night anyway and it just made it a lot worse.”
Late last night, Papenhuyzen posted a photo from hospital on his Instagram account with the message: “We go again, love ya.”
It’s a devastating setback for the 25-year-old, who was only three matches into his comeback from a shattered kneecap that had kept him out for more than a year.
He sobbed as he walked away from the field.
“I feel bad for him. It isn’t good news. “He just got back and this happens to him,” Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster said.
“This is heartbreaking news for him and the club.” We’ll be there with him tonight to make sure he’s okay.”
Another lengthy recuperation period awaits Papenhuyzen, who was airlifted to the hospital.
“That was tough scenes to be on the field, hearing how much pain he was in, we were thinking of him straight away,” Brisbane halfback Adam Reynolds said.
“I don’t know the extent of the leg injury, but it looked pretty serious.”
