Ryan Papenhuyzen
Ryan Papenhuyzen (born 10 June 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL), as a fullback.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 10 June 1998 Kellyville, Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 80 kg (12 st 8 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 13 November 2020 Source: [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life
Papenhuyzen was born in Sydney, Australia and is of Dutch descent.[2]
He grew up in Kellyville, New South Wales, was educated at Oakhill College, Castle Hill and represented the 2015 Australian Schoolboys. After graduating high school, he attended Australian Catholic University studying degree in Physical Activity, Health and Exercise Science.
He played touch football and played his junior rugby league for Kellyville Bushrangers, Dundas Shamrocks and the Hills District Bulls before being signed by Balmain Tigers.[3]
Career
Early career
Papenhuyzen played his junior representative for Balmain Tigers in the S. G. Ball Cup. He then played for the Wests Tigers under 20s, before he signed with the Melbourne Storm.
At Melbourne Storm Papenhuyzen played for their under 20s and feeder team Sunshine Coast Falcons for 2018. With consistent performances he gained selection for New South Wales under 20s State of Origin.
2019
He made his debut while he was only 20 years old for the Melbourne Storm in round 4 of the 2019 NRL season against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[4] Papenhuyzen had a breakout performance in round 9 against the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium, coming onto the field in the 49th minute, he scored a try, ran for 137 metres and had 3 line breaks, 2 line break assists and 2 try assists as Melbourne won 64–10.[5]
On 7 October, Papenhuyzen earned his first representative jersey as he was named in the Australian side for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s. Later that day, he was named at fullback in the U23 Junior Kangaroos squad. Papenhuyzen scored 2 tries in the Junior Kangaroos’ 62–4 victory over France.
2020
In a Round 8 match against the Sydney Roosters, the Storm were down 25-24 with 40 seconds remaining. The Storm regathered from the kick-off and with time running out, Papenhuyzen kicked an equalising field goal, his first in the NRL.
In the 2020 NRL Grand Final, which Storm won 26-20, Papenhuyzen won the Clive Churchill Medal for his Man of the Match performance [6]
References
- Rugby League Project
- "You can't Dutch this: Flyer Papenhuyzen one that got away from Tigers". SMH Sport. 15 May 2019.
- "Ryan Papenhuyzen Fullback". Official NRL profile. Melbourne Storm. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- "Round 4 NRL team lists". NRL.com. 2 April 2019.
- "Round 9: Storm v Eels – Eels". Parramatta Eels. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- "Do you believe in magic? The moments that decided Storm-Roosters thriller". NRL. Retrieved 3 July 2020.