Melbourne Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen is poised to return to rugby league after a year on the sidelines following his horrific knee injury.
The flying fullback will take to the field for feeder club the Sunshine Coast Falcons on Saturday after almost 13 months out with a shattered knee cap.
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Papenhuyzen shattered his right kneecap in 10 places in round 18 against the Canberra Raiders last season, with his return to rugby league taking 384 days.
The 25-year-old suffered numerous setbacks during his recovery and travelled to the US earlier this year for specialist treatment with world-renowned reconditioning expert Bill Knowles.
Papenhuyzen has been increasing his training workload in recent weeks as he pushes for a return to the Storm team ahead of the NRL finals.
Ahead of Melbourne’s Friday night blockbuster with the Panthers, Storm coach Craig Bellamy revealed the plan for the star fullback was to take it slow and steady and gradually increase his playing minutes.
“I just want to see him get through the 55 minutes or 50 minutes, whatever he plays, strongly without any more problems with his knee,” Bellamy told the media.
“That’s all we’re after. It’s a plan for this week and then we’ll see what happens from there, we’re not going to rush anything.
“He’s certainly down (to play) for this week, he probably won’t play 80 minutes.
“If he gets through the game, we’ll reassess where he’s at medically and where he’s at footy wise and physically as well.
“We will plan for next week after that.”
Bellamy said the Storm would love to have their exciting fullback make a return for the finals; however, the club was prepared to continue to play without him.
“We’d love to have him back at the end of the year, but if he’s not ready, then we won’t do it,” Bellamy said.
“We’ve played the patience game and he’s played the patience game and we’ll keep playing that just to get him through the first three, four, five weeks, which are going to be very important.”
Papenhuyzen said he was looking forward to getting back on the field as he pushed for a return to the NRL.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, so I’m sort of just going through the training week and trying to prepare like it’s a normal game,” Papenhuyzen said about his return to rugby league.
“It’s just been a while between drinks. It’s had its ups and downs and setbacks, and it’s probably taken a little bit longer than expected but at the same time I’m happy I did that.
“It’s been long enough now that I feel ready, and I guess that’s the main thing about long-term rehab is that resistance to being ready.
“There are so many people to thank, and I’ll probably save that for another day, but I think it’s a big milestone and I need to celebrate the small wins along the way, and this is another one of them.
“It’s a big step to be back after such a significant injury. I want to be playing NRL, so I have a little bit to go to achieve the goals I want — I’ve just got to keep doing the work.”
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