Injured Melbourne Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen is getting closer and closer to making his return back to the NRL field and has since gotten through his first contact training session.
While the Storm won't be in a happy mood after their surprising loss to the Newcastle Knights, there is one positive they can take away from their trip up to Newcastle.
After shattering his kneecap against the Canberra Raiders in Round 18 last season, Ryan Papenhuyzen has competed in his first full-contact training session just over 365 days since he sustained the injury.
Per The Sydney Morning Herald, Papenhuyzen ran at fullback during an opposed session against the first-grade side on Friday at the Central Coast ahead of their game against the Newcastle Knights.
While there are still five regular season games left for the Storm, Craig Bellamy admitted that he would not risk him this late in the campaign and instead wants to give him more time to recover to be fully ready for the beginning of the 2024 season.
“We're not going to do that, and he'll play some Queensland Cup games, without a doubt,” Bellamy said via the Herald.
“How much match practice he'll need at that lower level, I'm not quite sure. There's no way he would come straight back into the NRL after how long he's had out.
“From what I had seen a few weeks ago, what he was doing and what he wasn't doing, I couldn't see that [return] happening."
“But the last 10 days, it's been a rapid improvement", he added.
"Maybe it was a confidence thing. I don't know whether it's been physical or mental or both ... he'll build on that contact.
"He's definitely on the right track. He did some contact earlier this week for the first time.”