Melbourne Storm star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen will head to the United States of America for the next step in rehabilitation of his knee.
Papenhuyzen shattered his knee at the back end of the 2021 season against the Canberra Raiders in July, fracturing his kneecap in a season where the fullback suffered other injuries.
The knee injury ended his campaign, with the Storm ultimately going on to be bundled out of the finals in the first week by the Canberra Raiders.
Papenhuyzen, who has been limited in training since, will now head to Philadelphia where he will work under the guidance of Bill Knowles over the space of a fortnight to continue his knee rehabilitation.
The Storm have confirmed he will have sessions twice per day, and that plans for the trip began in November.
Storm physiotherapist Liam Robinson will accompany Papenhuyzen on the trip, with no current date set for Papenhuyzen's return to the NRL field. Any chance of him playing in Round 1 however seems to have evaporated.
“This is an opportunity to progress my rehab,” Papenhuyzen said in a club statement.
“I don't want to go into this with any expectations. I just want to go in and do my best and see how I come out after that.
‘I'll be learning new things, knowing it's going to be tough.
“I've jumped at the opportunity. I like to do these type of things that are a little bit different.
“Once Lachie mentioned it as a possibility, we went pretty hard to make sure it was going to happen. A big thanks goes to everyone at the club and to our sponsor Grill'd for supporting the trip.
“I've got work to do to get back to where I want to be. I know I still have a long way to go.”
Papenhuyzen's trip to the USA comes after Latrell Mitchell did similar early in the 2022 season to work on a troublesome hamstring.
He returned during the second half of the season and propelled the Rabbitohs from outside the top eight to the preliminary finals.
Storm CEO Justin Rodski said Papenhuyzen was leaving no stone unturned in his return to fitness.
“Bill Knowles comes hlghly recommended following the work he has done with a number of sporting stars across many sports who have been in a similar situation to Paps,” Rodski said.
“This rehab work will be an important next step in his recovery. We know Paps will leave no stone unturned to get his body right and we are confident he will be back out on the field as soon as possible.
The Storm open their season on the road against the Parramatta Eels on Thursday March 2.
