Sidelined since Round 18 last year and yet to play a game this season, Melbourne's star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen has opened up on his journey back to the NRL.
Shattering his kneecap against the Canberra Raiders in the middle of 2022, it has been a long road to recovery for Papenhuyzen, who was knocking on the door of State of Origin footy last year.
Before enduring the devastating injury, Papenhuyzen scored 14 tries in 12 appearances and was regarded as one of the elite players in the competition.
Since then, he has put in the hard work in recovery, which included rehabbing in the United States, as he aims to make a shock comeback before the end of the 2023 regular season.
"I'm still planning to come back by the end of the year which is the goal," he told Wide World of Sports'ย Freddy and the Eighth.
"I've just got to keep hanging in there. There's a few things to tick off still, but it's much better than last month."
Whilst he is hesitant to put a specific date on his return timeline, the 25-year-old revealed the emotional toll the injury has had on him.
"It's obviously pretty tough. This one's been the toughest of the lot (of the injury-enforced layoffs), I'd say," he stated.
"You've got to put things in perspective sometimes and I guess it's OK to be upset, OK to be going through these phases, but at the end of the day I'm getting paid still.
"If someone was in this same situation but wasn't playing footy I'd really see it hard for them to return to an active lifestyle.
"So for me to be in an environment where I've got physios and people around me to support me, I think I'm very lucky in that regard, and that probably helps me get through the (tough) times.
"In saying that, it does get relative and it sucks at times. It is lonely, it's not very fun, but I've still got an opportunity where I can come back and I've still got a couple of years on my contract that allows me to not rush the process and have confidence to pick up from where I left."
