Add Category
After more than a year out of the game with a shattered kneecap, Ryan Papenhuyzen is officially back in the NRL.
The star fullback came off the bench in the 62nd minute of Melbourne's 37-16 win over the Gold Coast and shook off some rust as he played through the middle for the final quarter of the game, crucially without any strapping or protection on his legs.
The crowd roared as he charged onto the field and Papenhuyzen said the feeling was pure "elation".
"It's something special and something that I'll cherish forever," he told ABC Sport.
His first touch was strong: one out off the dummy half, Papenhuyzen got the ball from Harry Grant, stepped around Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and got a quick play the ball.
It put Melbourne on the front foot, with a sharp Jahrome Hughes run and Grant feed creating a try for Christian Welch two plays later.
By his own admission he fell off a few tackles and was far from his best as the game wore on, but was just grateful to be playing NRL again after testing out his knee with three weeks in the lower-grade Queensland Cup.
"It's been a rollercoaster the last 12 months but it probably got the toughest in the last three or four months," he said.
"You see the return but you get a bit closer then you get knocked back and you don't know why. That was probably the hardest stuff I had to contend with.
"It's been a journey. It was tough, but throughout there were people who said it will all be worth it in the end and now I can say it's definitely worth it."
It was a throwback to the start of his career, when Papenhuyzen was back-up to Hughes, before the New Zealand international established himself as one of the best halfbacks in the game.
The Storm are keen to ease Papenhuyzen back into the team off the bench, with Nick Meaney in career-best form in the number one jersey, but an injury to Hughes could force things onto a faster track.
A medial ligament injury forced Hughes off the field early in the clash with the Titans and he ended the day with a heavily iced knee after some inadvertent friendly fire in a tackle.
With just one round left before finals, if Hughes is out for any length of time, the Storm could move Meaney into the halves to partner Cameron Munster with Papenhuyzen reclaiming the number one.
It would be a rapid promotion after an excruciating journey through 405 days of a rehabilitation and recovery journey that took him as far as the United States.
Papenhuyzen was on the cusp of making his NSW debut and pushing for a spot in the Australian team when injuries started to find him.
While it was a freak collision that sidelined him for more than a year, the Storm were already accustomed to playing without their first-choice fullback.
After capping his breakout season with the Clive Churchill Medal as Melbourne beat Penrith in the 2020 grand final, he played just one game between round six and 19 of the following year mostly due to lingering concussion symptoms.
In 2022 he missed more football with persistent hamstring issues, sitting out six weeks in the middle of the year before a brutally unlucky incident in just his third game back.
In the 20th minute against the Raiders, Papenhuyzen put himself between the tryline and a rampaging Jack Wighton, and the pair's knees came together, breaking the Storm star's patella in multiple places.
That was round 18 of 2022.
A full 405 days later, Papenhuyzen charged back onto the field to a massive reception from the Melbourne fans.
"I thought it was Elton John or something," Munster told Fox Sports of the fan response.
The crowd kept roaring with every touch from the 25-year-old, as he finished with seven carries for 44 metres.
"That reception I got when I came on the field was unbelievable," he told ABC Sport.
"I haven't heard noise like that for a while, so for that to be for me, I'm just stoked and can't thank everyone enough."
Papenhuyzen reserved particular praise for Storm physio Liam Robinson for helping him through "some really dark days" on the road back.
Loading