NRL 2022, SuperCoach news: Ryan Papenhuyzen in doubt for Storm’s round one match
Storm star and NRL SuperCoach favourite Ryan Papenhuyzen could miss the club’s season-opener after picking up an injury during a camp in Geelong.
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Storm superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen is in doubt for the club’s season-opener next month with an ankle injury.
Melbourne has never lost a round 1 game in coach Craig Bellamy’s 19-year reign at the Storm, but its March 13 road clash against the Wests Tigers could put the remarkable record in doubt.
Stars Cameron Munster, Brandon Smith, Harry Grant and Chris Lewis will all be suspended for round 1, and now Papenhuyzen could also miss.
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The gun fullback hurt his ankle at the club’s Geelong camp this month and Bellamy said he could miss the opening game of the NRL season.
“He’s not training with the group at the moment and he hasn’t been for a few weeks, so we’re not quite sure where he’ll be,” Bellamy said.
“We’d rather not be in this position but we are and we have to find a way out of it.
“The guys that miss out, well, that’s unfortunate but we’ll be concerned about the guys that we put in and hopefully they can do a good job for us.”
A youthful Storm side started well at a sold-out Casey Fields on Saturday before falling 30-18 to the New Zealand Warriors in its first trial game of the year.
“I thought we started both halves really well but we made a lot of errors in the back-end of both halves and we didn’t really defend,” Bellamy said.
“They scored six tries and for me that’s too many, so I was disappointed with some of our defence. But there was a couple that put their hands up.
“I thought Bronson Garlick and Josh King did a pretty good job.
“Starting the game, I thought the way Brandon (Smith), with the style he played, looked pretty good to me.
“I was really happy with how Xavier Coates played as well and Alec McDonald, who punched a few holes off the bench.”
Storm will load up next Sunday and play its best available team in its trial with Newcastle in Ballarat.
“We’ll put everyone in that can play next week,” Bellamy said.
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