Melbourne Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen will race the clock to be fit for ANZAC Day, with a nine-day turnaround to their clash with the New Zealand Warriors set to give him a chance at playing.
Papenhuyzen noticeably struggled during the Storm's Round 6 home clash with the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday evening following an awkward tackle from Cameron McInnes during the first half.
McInnes landed on report, however, escaped sanction from the NRL match review committee for the tackle gone wrong.
Papenhuyzen managed to play out the game in noticeable discomfort, and took to Instagram to reveal not only the swelling of his ankle, but also a series of abusive messages he received over the injury.
In one message, Papenhuyzen was told his ankle injury wasn't really impacting his game and that he was "pretending to put a limp on" while another accused him of suffering a "fake injury". Both comments were made amongst others which Zero Tackle have chosen not to publish due to their nature.
According to The Daily Telegraph however, despite the noticeable swelling and obvious ankle problem, the club is optimistic that Papenhuyzen will be fit in time for ANZAC Day given the length of the turnaround.
Should he be injured, it's likely Nick Meaney will shift from the wing to fullback, with Dean Ieremia among the likely options to then take the vacant spot.
The Storm will be hopeful of having Papenhuyzen however, who has scored eight tries, kicked 23 goals and added another three try assists in his six games so far this season.
Papenhuyzen has only failed to score one one occasion in a Melbourne side who have won five of their first six games.
The clash with the Warriors will kick-off at 7pm (AEST) on Monday evening.