426Tlgerland
Well-known member
Absolutely not , Paps is done , more injuries to come unfortunately for him
Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion
- Thread starter MacDougall
- Start date
Curly_Tiger
Well-known member
Samoa missed Luai’s leadership
We could use some of that
Trade? Mate, we're not going to be able to give him away without paying at least half his salary, probably more. No-one's going to give us anything for him other than their PayID details.
earl
Well-known member
Pole is awesome. Quick play the balls, a bit of footwork.
A broken pretzel
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
There’s no way Pap can ever earn big money again
king_sirro
Well-known member
Why? All his injuries are impact injuries, not soft tissue injuries like Turbo. It's simply been a bad run of luck. If that luck turns there is no medical reason whatsoever he cant play long term with no problems. The way he fell straight into looking like a top liner after that kneecap injury was super impressive.
I disagree… we are idiots if we move Blore on ..
his physique and attitude stand out in our bunch of string bean forwards
Just because we have a resident barber @ the COO doesn’t mean we have to go out and sign a useless Hair Bear to keep him busy.
426Tlgerland
Well-known member
Agree I feel,for him as he is a talent but just think he is going to collect more injuries , value drops , and he has had his share of injury , again not a slant on him just a feeling
jirskyr
Well-known member
I always maintained that Paps was an injury risk, back when he was at the Tigers.
That's not to attempt to take credit for anything, it's just that a player with his frame and his play style is always going to be at significant risk of both getting a serious leg injury and potentially struggling to get over a serious leg injury.
So whilst Storm got a few really good years from Paps, I think someone that skinny who relies on explosive speed will always struggle once they have a significant leg injury. Think that he's only 25 and a lot of people are already talking about his career in decline, and both his previous leg injury and concussion took him a very long time to recover from.
Which is a shame for him because he has more arrows to his quiver than just speed, and he's obviously a very brave footballer, but from now on he's an increasingly large risk in contact. And unfortunately it's a feedback-loop - the more injured or aged or unconfident he gets the easier he becomes to pick off, because it's his speed and agility that allows him to compete at this level.
I think it would be a huge risk for any club to take him on at this time, especially given how short his return was in 2023.
Surely it has to be a Nofa for Olam swap? Nofa knows the Storm system with his brief stint last year, and from all accounts the loan worked well and Bellamy was happy.
Why would we let Stef or Blore go, both are just starting to mature and hitting their straps. Am I missing something?
Tom Shines
Well-known member
If it was the Tigers as the club in the Paps article they would have said so … they aren’t shy mentioning them any other time …
Probably the Roosters
Probably the Roosters
They want forwards.
Olam knows the storm system.
Can't see em swapping him out for a worse player like Nofo.
clontarfkid
Well-known member
Needs two relatively injury free sesaons to regain cred re his durability
Sadly,I think hes too brittle to achieve that IMO
He can only play one position,which weve just heavily invested in Bula as our solution
So its a big pass..
clontarfkid
Well-known member
Olam 2023 looked completely broken
Any team considering him wld need an exhaustive medical..
Betterdays22
Well-known member
Think its probably rubbish but I'm guessing the Eels as their "x factor" fullback would be interested. I think they would be mad to move Gutho though. Paps from the Hills originally which is kind of Eels territory.I wonder if we are the team in question....
Why mystery surrounds Papenhuyzen link to Storm’s rivals
By Danny Weidler
October 22, 2023 — 5.30am (SMH)
Storm superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen has been secretly floated to at least one rival club as a potential recruit, but Melbourne say he is going nowhere.
Papenhuyzen has been mentioned to a team to gauge interest in his services. The club has been approached by a third party on the quiet with the message being, if he were to become available, would they be interested and, if so, at what level.
New Zealand take on Samoa in the 2023 Pacific Championships at Eden Park, Auckland.
It is a conversation that is easy to deny and Melbourne general manager Frank Ponissi laughed at the idea of an early departure for Papenhuyzen, who signed a three-year contract extension in 2021 for about $2 million, which runs until the end of the 2025 season.
Papenhuyzen was not fazed when contacted, saying he had no knowledge of any discussions.
It is a common practice for a third party with links to a team to broach sensitive contract moves because it allows the club to distance itself from any discussions. After Melbourne’s denial I went back to the NRL club that has been sounded out and it confirmed it had been asked about Papenhuyzen.
The level of intent behind the conversations is hard to gauge, and it is difficult to predict if it will lead to anything. Papenhuyzen is a fan favourite and beloved at the club, but the Storm have a star on the rise in
Ryan Papenhuyzen has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons.CREDIT:NRL PHOTOS
He may have played only one NRL game, but his performance left the league world stunned. Then he earned rave reviews after taking on Australia last weekend with Samoa. Faalogo’s Benji Marshall-style “midair” step and pace have him marked as an emerging star. That is why a potential Papenhuyzen exit makes some sense.
Papenhuyzen is on big money and, through no fault of his own, he has been unable to deliver in recent years. The knee injury he suffered against Canberra in 2022 kept him out for more than a year. He broke his leg a couple of games into his comeback and also spent considerable time out following a serious concussion in 2021.
In his absence, Nick Meaney has proven to be a more than capable fullback. The Storm need to bolster their forward roster, and any extra cash freed up by a Papenhuyzen deal would be useful.
Papenhuyzen has admitted to some dark times on the comeback trail but got through them by working hard on self-development. I had a long chat to him recently, before this information came to me, and it was clear he still has a strong desire to be the best fullback in the game. After his major knee injury, he got back to 93 per cent of his previous top speed.
I know they do, but we'd be crazy to release a growing star for Olam who had a worse year than Nofa.
Justin Olam
The NRL profile of Justin Olam including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.
www.melbournestorm.com.au
David Nofoaluma
The NRL profile of David Nofoaluma including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.
www.weststigers.com.au
crazycat
Well-known member
We are NOT the Melbourne Storm!
We don't appear in finals games. We don't have an ability to train players up hard.
We do not have Harry Grant, Ryan Pap's, Cam Munster and Jehrome Hugues needing contracts (probably can get 1 mil if they looked around). We don't have 4 players ready to go at Center.
Our reserve grade, does not have a ready stream of players ready for first grade. I mean they do okay, Tristan Reilly, Feledy, etc are there. Neither of them are a hard hitter when they showed up at the last game last season and it's clear both would struggle with NRL level of physical contact. Not saying they are not good players, they are. I am saying that they are not ready.
We need a center who can boost our grit. Olam has grit in spades.
Were not the Melbourne Storm, we can be the Melbourne storm, heck we can be greater. But we need an experienced center to help build our backline.
