Spending time with Billy Slater on his farm, leaning on the Storm legend’s epic comeback from two shoulder reconstructions and filing through clips put together by the Melbourne great helped Ryan Papenhuyzen enormously on the road back from shattering his kneecap, the superstar No.1 has revealed.
Ahead of the Storm’s qualifying final against the Broncos in Brisbane on Friday night, Papenhuyzen has opened up on the major role Slater played in helping him return to the NRL after he broke his kneecap in 10 places in round 18 last year.
After making his NRL comeback against the Titans in round 26 and facing the Broncos last week, Papenhuyzen will be injected into the action off the bench as Melbourne again meets Brisbane on Friday night.
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Nick Meaney will pull on the No.1 jumper as Papenhuyzen slips on the No.17 jersey, before the Storm hunt their 15th consecutive win against the Broncos in a bid to reach the preliminary finals.
Running out in front of a sell-out Suncorp Stadium crowd for a finals match will represent a significant moment in Papenhuyzen’s journey back from his shocking knee injury.
The speedster spoke of Slater’s instrumental role in his comeback on Nine’s Today on Thursday morning.
“He was a big part of my rehab. Especially when things got tough he was there to invite me over to his farm. (It was great to) not talk about footy, just have that person who I can go out to his farm (with). We were doing stuff with his horses, we were playing tennis with his kids. It was just different things that I probably didn’t have in Melbourne,” Papenhuyzen said.
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“I feel like off field I have some things set up, but just that time with people (was important).
“It’s obviously hard. I think there are a couple in the squad that are actually from Melbourne, but everyone else is from interstate.”
Slater and his family look after thoroughbred horses on a 20-acre farm just of Melbourne.
Papenhuyzen opens up on injury battle
“For him to reach out in that period was pretty cool and I guess you get through those dark days and you reflect on them,” Papenhuyzen added.
“He was definitely a big part during that period. Credit to him.
“Even with the footy stuff, as soon as I was ready to get back into it, he had stuff ready for me: clips to watch and just confidence that I could get back to what I was.”
Slater suffered a shoulder injury that his surgeon likened to damage caused by a car crash, and was limited to just eight NRL games across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
But in his penultimate season in the NRL, the champion fullback famously fought back to win the 2017 premiership with Melbourne as well as the Clive Churchill Medal.
“For someone who’s been through a long-term injury, he showed me that it’s possible to come back and possible to come back and perform at a high level,” Papenhuyzen said.