Play was held up for several minutes as medicos attended to Papenhuyzen with Storm officials later confirming he suffered a serious broken ankle after it was twisted under Asofa-Solomona.
“He’s gone to hospital. I haven’t seen him but Frank (Ponissi) said he was in a whole heap of pain. It’s not great,” said Storm coach Craig Bellamy.
“I couldn’t imagine how he’s feeling at the moment. The amount of work he’s put in to playing again, then he had to work hard to get back in the NRL team.
Late last night, Papenhuyzen posted a photo from hospital on his Instagram account with the message: “We go again, love ya.”
It’s a cruel blow for the 25-year old, who was only three matches into a comeback from a broken kneecap that kept him sidelined for over 12 months.
He left the field in tears.
“I feel sorry for him. It’s not good news. The poor fella, just got back and that happens to him,” Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster said.
“It’s devastating news for him and the club. We’ll be with him tonight and make sure he’s alright.”
Another lengthy rehabilitation stint looms for Papenhuyzen, who was transported to hospital from the ground.
“That was tough scenes to be on the field, hearing how much pain he was in, we were thinking of him straight away,” said Brisbane halfback Adam Reynolds.
“I don’t know the extent of the leg injury, but it looked pretty serious.”
The Storm were completely outgunned by Brisbane, the Broncos’ first win against them at the ground since 2009.
“Our first half was really poor; we’d done well to be 8-0 at halftime, it could have been 20-0 at halftime,” Bellamy said.
“I’m not sure how we can come into this game and play like that.
“We just looked like 17 players thrown together on the night and ‘good luck’.
“Our attack’s been humming along OK, but tonight it looked like they just met each other in the dressing room before the game.”
Melbourne will now face the winner of the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla in a knockout semifinal next weekend.
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