Injured Melbourne Storm phenomenon Ryan Papenhuyzen has given an update on his recovery from a shattered kneecap nearly four months after surgery, advising that he still has a long way to go.
Papenhuyzen first injured his knee in Round 9 against St George Illawarra, and was forced to miss a number of weeks before making his return in Round 16.
By Round 18 he was back in the injury ward and things were much more severe, with a shattered kneecap being described by NRLPhysio as one of the most brutal injuries in recent memory, confirming an untimely end to his season.
But the Storm are keeping fans aware of the situation, with Papenhuyzen offering a monthly update on his recovery in a post shared by the club on social media.
“Month four, post-surgery. Going pretty slow to be honest,” Papenhuyzen says.
“Now I'm just trying to get that swelling down to a level where I can get some range, and with that will come quad strength hopefully.
“I didn't have much of a quad muscle anyway and now I've got to suddenly… form one. That's a big part of this rehab at the moment so it's a lot of the same videos, a lot of leg press and trying to do leg extensions. It's slow but it's coming along.
“I do feel much better than where I was at last month, but at the same time it's one of those (recoveries) where you go forward and backwards, it's never a steady line.
“It's all going all right, back in the hands of the physios now and they're doing a great job of making sure my program is suited to me. Hopefully next month there is more to update everyone on. For now it's just the grind and hopefully in a better spot next month.
Watch the full video below.