The Maroons coach would have been left stunned at the carnage to the Queenslanders.
Ryan Papenhuyzen endured a rollercoaster night in the Storm’s 42-2 upset to the Dolphins with Billy Slater watching two Queensland hopefuls leave the field injured. Melbourne raced out to a 14 point lead at Suncorp on Friday evening with NRL fans expecting the frontrunners to put on another huge total like they did against the Warriors last week.
Despite losing Harry Grant before kick-off, Papenhuyzen was once again proving to fans why he could be the NSW Origin fullback in 2025 having scooted from dummy-half to finish a Storm move and score a try. Melbourne’s attack looked lethal once again as they were 16-2 up with plenty of time to build on their attack.
However, it all went wrong for the Storm in the second-half after Isaiya Katoa put on a masterclass. The 21-year-old recorded five try assists and put Jahrome Hughes in his shadow in the halfback battle. And while Papenhuyzen started off looking like a potential Blues star, he was left wanting on a number of occasions in the final 40 minutes.
In one telling moment, Blues coach Laurie Daley would have noticed Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow embarrass Papenhuyzen for a try. The Dolphins fullback out-jumped Papenhuyzen in a one-on-one battle, before offloading to Ray Stone for his second try of the evening. Earlier in the Dolphins onslaught, Katoa caught Papenhuyzen out of position at dummy-half as he put through a grubber as the Storm fullback raced across the field in a failed attempt to stop Kodi Nikorima.
And while Papenhuyzen and the Storm were once again solid in attack, it was there defence that let them down. “It seems to be a bit like that,” Bellamy said of their lacklustre defence.
“It is a big concern to just rely on your attack. We have been aware that our defence hasn’t been as good as we’d like it to be. I’ll have to look through it to see where the problems are … and see where we can improve next week.” And Daley would have taken notice of Papenhuyzen’s defence in the shock Dolphins defeat after a telling moment against potential Queensland rival Tabuai-Fidow.
