Happy to think outside the box, Ryan Papenhuyzen has taken his thirst for improvement to another country and another code to pick the brain of All Blacks legend Dan Carter.
The star fullback, along with Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes, headed to New Zealand in the NRL off-season to spend a weekend with the retired playmaker.
Set up through Storm football manager Frank Ponissi’s All Blacks connections, the star pair hoped to improve their kicking skills under the tutelage of Carter, who played 112 matches for the All Blacks.
But Papenhuyzen, who played schoolboy rugby before focusing on league, told AAP they got a lot more out of the sessions, covering topics ranging from injury management to culture to business.
An avid reader, Papenhuyzen had done his homework, having just finished Carter’s autobiography.
After two career-threatening injuries, the Storm ace said he could relate to Carter’s long injury toll that included two broken legs, a ruptured achilles, torn groin tendon, calf injury and partial ACL tear.
“I’d just read his book, so it was quite good timing in terms of I was able to go over with a bit of knowledge about what he’d been through,” the 26-year-old told AAP.
“He had some really bad injuries in his late 20s and he’d come back and won World Cups after it.
“If you look at him, he’s like the same height as me, pretty much the same weight – nothing looks special about him, but he’s achieved so much, but also been through his fair share of adversity.
“(It was great) just to hear his mental approach to that and how he recovered from that, and then also his routines and how structured he was.
“We just picked his brain and learned a lot of things that we’ve sort of implemented back into our routines now.”
While Hughes is a New Zealand league Test player, Papenhuyzen said he was surprised by the generosity shown by Carter to share his wisdom with an Australian, given the trans-Tasman rivalry.
“He’s an All Blacks legend, and I know ‘Hughey’ is a Kiwi, but I’m an Aussie and he might try to hold some things back, but it definitely wasn’t that,” Papenhuyzen said.
Ryan Papenhuyzen celebrates with teammates. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Papenhuyzen signed a contract extension in December that will keep him in Melbourne until the end of the 2026 season.
He said the Storm squad were fitter than ever and eager to start the new season after last year’s grand final loss to Penrith.
“Everyone is quite fit – even our fitness drills at training have stepped up, and we’re doing more reps than we were last year and everyone is getting better times,” Papenhuyzen said.
Melbourne’s first pre-season match is against the Warriors on February 15, with most of the stars pencilled in for game two against North Queensland on February 23, with Papenhuyzen set to line up.
“I’ve got a bit of a load management week this week, but I feel really good … it’s the first time in a few years where I’ve actually got a really good block of fitness in,” Papenhuyzen said.
“I feel really good and it’s a nice feeling, for once.”
© AAP