Ryan Papenhuyzen, a Melbourne Storm fullback, visited renowned physiotherapist Bill Knowles in the United States this off-season to prepare for his return from a second devastating injury.
After missing most of the 2023 season due to a knee injury, Papenhuyzen returned at the end of the season. However, he suffered a serious ankle injury in the final round of the regular season against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
Papenhuyzen has returned to training and is expected to play in trial matches against the Bulldogs in Belmore on Thursday, February 15 and the Knights in Fiji on Saturday, February 24.
“I think I’m playing a trial game. “I’m not sure which trial game it is, but yeah, beauty,” Papenhuyzen told 9 News.
He admitted that seeing his foot at the angle it was at following the injury in Brisbane did not help him.
“I think I was overwhelmed with emotion and disappointment. He admitted, “Seeing my foot that way probably didn’t help.”
Despite that, Papenhuyzen has been working hard to rehabilitate the injury and revealed he had funded a trip for himself to visit Bill Knowles in the United States.
Papenhuyzen was first sent to America to work with Knowles after having his knee cap shattered during 2022, an injury which caused him to be sidelined for more than 12 months.
“The Storm have been paying me for 12 months and I haven’t played a game so I thought I might use a bit of the money to go fix myself up,” he said on his second trip to the United States.
“Coming back after my knee from Bill, the amount of confidence and reassurance he gave me, even though I’Il be confident with my ankle and I know I can get back from it, I thought I wanted the clarity around I can move the same way. We did a lot of work this year around moving the body around and being more efficient.”
The star fullback will be in a battle for the number one jumper at the club this year, with Nick Meaney having replaced him last year and Sua Fa’alogo pushing for first-grade minutes.
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