Melbourne excitement machine Ryan Papenhuyzen says he needs to play smarter as the Storm attempt to keep their NRL season alive in a sudden-death semi-final.
The minor premiers’ plans to host a preliminary final went up in smoke when Canberra snatched a 12-10 victory at AAMI Park on Saturday night with a last-ditch try to English centre John Bateman.
One thing Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy loves about Papenhuyzen is the young fullback’s desire to be around the ball, unafraid to make big carries through the middle despite his light frame.
In the last month of football Papenhuyzen has run for an incredible 934 metres and he again topped the Storm’s run metres tally in the qualifying final loss.
But the 21-year-old said he was still learning to pick his opportunities as opposing teams get to know more about his game, with Canberra putting plenty of heat on him in defence.
“I need to be a bit smarter when I get to the ball now – maybe instead of getting 25 carries I need to get 16 or 18 and just make them effective,” Papenhuyzen said.
“Last week was a good example; I ran for 300 metres but I didn’t feel like I had a great game.
“It’s about having those 15 or 16 carries and making sure I’m effective.”
He said that Melbourne will be looking for a better start, having given away a fourth minute try to the Raiders which put them on the back foot.
They trailed until just after halftime but a better second half saw the Storm wrestle back control of the game until the Bateman try.
“To be 6-0 down early and come back, we had a good mentality in that regard but we have to start games a lot better and get on the front foot,” Papenhuyzen said.
“We showed when we do that we can blow teams away.
“I know in finals it doesn’t always happen like that but I think we have the side who can still do it.”
It was the first taste of finals football for rookie Papenhuyzen, along with centre Justin Olam and forwards Tui Kamikamica and Matt King.
Papenhuyzen said they would be better for the experience and were already focused on Saturday’s night mission.
“Everyone is pretty disappointed … the good thing out of it is that we can roll into what’s coming now, we don’t have a week off, we can just charge that momentum back up,” he said.
“We will be ready and we’ve shown this year we can bounce back pretty good.”