Australian rugby league footballer
Ryan Papenhuyzen
|
|
Born
| (
1998-06-10
)
10 June 1998
(age 25)
Sydney, New South Wales
, Australia
|
---|
Height
| 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
|
---|
Weight
| 80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
|
---|
|
Position
| Fullback
|
---|
Club
|
Years
|
Team
|
Pld
|
T
|
G
|
FG
|
P
|
2019?
|
Melbourne Storm
|
80
|
56
|
100
|
4
|
429
|
Representative
|
Years
|
Team
|
Pld
|
T
|
G
|
FG
|
P
|
2019?2023
|
Australia 9s
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
|
As of 4 May 2024
|
Ryan Papenhuyzen
(born 10 June 1998) is an Australian professional
rugby league
footballer who plays as a
fullback
for the
Melbourne Storm
of the
National Rugby League
(NRL) in Australia. He is a NRL premiership winning player of 2020.
Early life
[
edit
]
Papenhuyzen was born in Sydney, Australia, and is of
Dutch
descent.
[3]
He grew up in
Kellyville, New South Wales
, was educated at
Oakhill College
, Castle Hill and represented the
2015 Australian Schoolboys
. After graduating high school, he attended
Australian Catholic University
studying degree in Physical Activity, Health and Exercise Science.
[
citation needed
]
He played touch football and played his junior rugby league for Kellyville Bushrangers,
Dundas Shamrocks
and the
Hills District Bulls
before being signed by
Balmain Tigers
.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Papenhuyzen played his junior representative rugby league for
Balmain
in the
S. G. Ball Cup
and
Harold Matthews Cup
. He later played for the
Wests Tigers
NRL Under-20s
team. He then signed with
Melbourne
after he was released by the Wests Tigers due to the club wishing to re-sign
James Tedesco
.
[5]
At Melbourne Papenhuyzen played for their under 20s and feeder team
Sunshine Coast Falcons
for 2018. With consistent performances he gained selection for
New South Wales under 20s State of Origin
.
2019
[
edit
]
He made his Melbourne debut while he was only 20 years old in round 4 of the
2019 NRL season
against the
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
.
[6]
He had his Melbourne jersey (cap number 194) presented to him by former Melbourne player
Billy Slater
.
Papenhuyzen had a breakout performance in round 9 against the
Parramatta Eels
at
Suncorp Stadium
, coming onto the field in the 50th minute, he scored a try, ran for 137 metres and had 3 line breaks, 2 line break assists and 2 try assists as Melbourne won 64?10.
[7]
On 8 October, Papenhuyzen earned his first representative jersey as he was named in the Australian side for the
2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s
. Later that day, he was named at fullback in the U23 Junior Kangaroos squad. Papenhuyzen scored 2 tries in the Junior Kangaroos’ 62?4 victory over
France
.
[
citation needed
]
2020
[
edit
]
In a Round 8 match against the
Sydney Roosters
, Melbourne were down 25-24 with 40 seconds remaining. Melbourne regathered from the kick-off and with time running out, Papenhuyzen kicked an equalising field goal, his first in the NRL.
In the
2020 NRL Grand Final
, which Melbourne won 26?20, Papenhuyzen won the
Clive Churchill Medal
for his Man of the Match performance.
[8]
Papenhuyzen was selected in the
NSW Origin
squad for the
2020 State of Origin series
, but was withdrawn from selection for game one through injury.
[9]
He was not selected in the team for either game two or three.
2021
[
edit
]
Papenhuyzen began the 2021 season at fullback and as designated goal kicker after the retirement of
Cameron Smith
. In Round 4, Melbourne defeated the
Brisbane Broncos
40-6 with Papenhuyzen scoring four tries in 11 minutes. This equaled, what was at the time, the club record for the
most scored in a single game
. Papenhuyzen also kicked five goals in this game and with a combined points total of 26, he climbed into second place for the most points scored in a single game by a Melbourne Storm player. By the end of this round he was in first place on the league's list for most points scored. In Round 10 against
St. George Illawarra
, Papenhuyzen suffered a severe concussion after a high tackle from
Tyrell Fuimaono
in the 11th minute of the game, ruling him out of a place in NSW's State of Origin squad for 2021 and ruling him out for the majority of the season. Papenhuyzen returned to Melbourne's starting side in Round 19 against
North Queensland
, playing only 33 minutes from the interchange bench.
Papenhuyzen played a total of 15 games for Melbourne in the
2021 NRL season
and scored 14 tries as the club won 19 matches in a row and claimed the
Minor Premiership
. Papenhuyzen scored 157 points for the season. He played in all three finals matches including the preliminary final where Melbourne suffered a shock 10-6 loss against eventual premiers
Penrith
.
[10]
2022
[
edit
]
In Round 4 of the
2022 NRL season
, Papenhuyzen set a new career-high points in a game with 28 points against
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
, scoring four tries and six goals.
[11]
In round 9 of the 2022 NRL season, Papenhuyzen was taken from the field during Melbourne's victory over
St. George Illawarra
. It was later announced that Papenhuyzen would miss four to six matches with a hamstring and knee injury.
[12]
In round 16, Papenhuyzen made his return to the Melbourne side and scored two tries in a 36?30 loss against
Manly
.
[13]
In round 18, Papenhuyzen was taken from the field in Melbourne's 20-16 loss against
Canberra
with a suspected fractured kneecap.
[14]
On 19 July, it was confirmed that Papenhuyzen would miss the remainder of the 2022 NRL season.
[15]
While recovering from injury, in November Papenhuyzen would win the 2022
Australian Open
golf pro-am, held at the
Victoria Golf Club
.
[16]
[17]
2023
[
edit
]
Papenhuyzen missed the first twenty two rounds of the
2023 NRL season
due to a shattered kneecap, returning on August 5 to play for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in Queensland cup.
[18]
Papenhuyzen returned to first grade in round 26 of the 2023 NRL Season and scored his first try of the season in round 27. Papenhuyzen suffered a season ending fracture to his ankle while he was tackling the Brisbane Broncos Tom Flegler, he was caught in the tackle with fellow teammate Nelson Asofa-Solomona in Melbourne's 26-0 loss to Brisbane in week one of the finals.
[19]
Due to it being his second severe leg injury, many fans believed his career was over, however in the aftermath it was revealed that Papenhuyzen was expected to be cleared to play by the commencement of the following season.
[20]
2024
[
edit
]
Papanhuyzen returned to the side in round 1, in which Melbourne defeated the
Penrith Panthers
8-0. The side would go on to win all but one of their first 8 matches, leaving them in first place on the ladder. In their round 9 22-20 victory against the
Gold Coast Titans
, Papenhuyzen began limping after a routine tackle, which resulted in him leaving the field. It was revealed the following day that Papenhuyzen had suffered a small fracture in his surgically repaired leg, which would leave him sidelined for four to six weeks.
[21]
Honours
[
edit
]
Melbourne Storm
- NRL
premiership:
2020
- NRL minor premiership: 2019,
2021
Individual
Statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
Season
|
Team
|
Matches
|
T
|
G
|
GK %
|
F/G
|
Pts
|
2019
|
Melbourne
|
22
|
9
|
2
|
66.67%
|
0
|
40
|
2020†
|
20
|
11
|
4
|
44.44%
|
1
|
53
|
2021
|
15
|
14
|
49
|
85.96%
|
2
[a]
|
157
|
2022
|
12
|
14
|
41
|
78.85%
|
1
|
139
|
2023
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
66.67%
|
0
|
12
|
2024
|
3
|
3
|
|
|
|
12
|
Career totals
|
75
|
52
|
100
|
78.74%
|
4
|
413
|
source;
[22]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Includes 1 two point field goal.
External links
[
edit
]