‘I know my value’: Storm’s Ryan Papenhuyzen keen to ‘prove them wrong’ after being shopped around

Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen has addressed reports he’s being shopped to a rival club, and revealed his relationship with rising star teammate Sua Faa’logo.

Papenhuyzen, 25, told foxsports.com.au on Wednesday that “I know my value” and said if his club doesn’t see it then that’s on them.

The injured No. 1 accepted it was just business but added he’ll also use it as “motivation to come back and prove them wrong”.

Watch every match of Pacific Championships LIVE on Kayo Sports. Join Kayo now and start streaming instantly >

Papenhuyzen is once again on the comeback trail from a horrific leg injury, but declared he plans on being fit for Round 1.

Melbourne’s fullback returned from a fractured kneecap in Round 26 and just two games later he suffered a shocking ankle break.

Storm utility Nick Meaney starred as Papenhuyzen’s replacement this year before rookie sensation Faa’logo was handed his NRL debut in Round 27.

Faa’logo scored two tries in a sizzling display, before the fullback delivered an even more impressive performance for Samoa against Australia this month.

The Test debut was so eye-catching that Storm boss Frank Ponissi told foxsports.com.au the club was putting the wheels in motion to double his salary for 2024.

Between the emergence of Faa’logo and fellow rookie Will Warbrick, plus Meaney’s form, it has put Papenhuyzen’s reported $820,000 salary under the microscope in Melbourne.

“I guess it’s someone at the club’s job to do, so no hard feelings there, I know my value at the club,” Papenhuyzen told foxsports.com.au.

“I know what I have to offer and if they don’t see it then they don’t see that. But I know plenty of people who do.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I need to do to get back and play and I’m confident when I do get back playing that those reports will go away.

“It’s only natural, it’s only business, obviously Sua has been playing good footy and Meaney played really well this year so it was inevitable to happen, but at the same time it gives you that motivation to come back and prove them wrong.”

Papenhuyzen said he “wasn’t surprised” to see Faa’logo star against the Kangaroos and revealed the close relationship he shares with the rookie and Meaney.

“He was good, wasn’t he,” Papenhuyzen said.

“I wasn’t surprised about that to be fair, he’s a very handy player and spent all of this year in the Queensland Cup and hopefully he can keep bringing that form into next year.

“We’re all pretty close and the common goal within the club is you want to win a premiership and if we’re helping each other out it’s going to go a long way to winning one.

“It’s a weird one because it’s so competitive for spots but at the same time I personally know sitting out you want the best for the team. Coming back from injury you want the team to be in a good position when you do come back and you’re not going to do that by not supporting them.

“I’m confident I’ll get back in the team and I’ll do what I do, but they finished the year off well and made the prelim.

“Now we need to find that next step and that’s what the preseason is about how we can find that next step and who is going to play where and having those honest conversations about who is going to be the man for the job.

“That’s the fun part about the offseason, you get to plan those things out and see what you’re up against, but I’m up for that and it’s always good to have some competition.”

Papenhuyzen is starting to “wean” out of the moon boot he’s been wearing for the past eight weeks and plans to be back in full training by January.

“I met with the surgeon yesterday and he was really positive with how it was going and how it’s healing and just starting to wean off the boot now and getting back into some exercise which is nice,” he said.

“Initially they thought it was a compound fracture but it didn’t break the skin which was lucky, but at the same I broke my fibula, broke a bit of my tibia, ruptured my deltoid ligament and ruptured my syndesmosis.

“So it wasn’t the best case scenario but it wasn’t the worst either.

“Round 1 is the plan, it’s all going smoothly at the moment and I should be doing everything by the new year hopefully.”

Papenhuyzen revealed physically his knee injury was tougher but his latest setback had taken its toll mentally.

“The knee was definitely the toughest in terms of how many hurdles I had to overcome. But coming back then getting hurt again, mentally, was the most challenging part,” he said.

“Just knowing what you’re going to have to go through again and how much hard work it took. Mentally getting yourself around having to do it again and face what happened, that was probably the toughest part.

“I’m all good now, it was only natural to feel down in the dumps for a bit there, especially while the other boys were still playing, it was a bit hard to come to terms with.

“But since the season has finished I’ve been alright with it all and at the end of the day I’ll probably only miss those two or three games that I did at the end of the year.

“When you put it in perspective like that it’s not too bad, but also you look at the next few weeks ahead where a lot of the boys are enjoying themselves going away (on holidays) and you’re slogging it away in rehab going through that process again.”

Papenhuyzen was presenting a grant to the Geelong Touch Football Association on Wednesday night as part of the DoorDash Footy Cash program.

“I know the impact the grants have on the clubs and having a touch footy background I know those things go a long way,” he said.

Papenhuyzen is involved in several community programs and said outside of footy he’s looking towards life beyond his NRL career.

“I do a bit of reading and some business stuff, just trying to build a skillset to hopefully be in good stead when footy finishes,” he said.

“I’m big on that, mum and dad put that into me when I was a kid to focus on things other than footy.

“The mental side of the game I’m pretty big on too so I just try to read and build myself up to be the best version of myself I can be.”