{"id":115262,"date":"2021-08-12T13:04:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T13:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=115262"},"modified":"2021-08-12T13:57:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T13:57:10","slug":"storm-gun-opens-up-on-concussion-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=115262","title":{"rendered":"Storm gun opens up on concussion comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm gun Ryan Papenhuyzen has opened up on his road back from a concerning concussion following a week in which NRL guru Phil Gould claimed the fullback "looked a shadow of himself."<\/a><\/p>\n

The Storm gun was arguably the NRL's hottest property this season until he was knocked senseless by St George Illawarra's Tyrell Fuimaono in Magic Round following a brutal hit.<\/a><\/p>\n

It forced him out of the game for two months as he dealt with the ongoing issues of concussion<\/a>, revealing he had been suffering mood swings since the collision.<\/p>\n

It wasn't until round 19 that the 23-year-old stepped back on the pitch, but has so far started from the bench in limited bursts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While it's understandable the Storm would be eager to heavily manage Papenhuyzen's return, Gould proclaimed earlier this week that the fullback had looked a "shadow of himself", and still had a ways to go until he rediscovered his best.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the matter directly tonight, Papenhuyzen was candid, offering a rare glimpse into the work that goes on behind the scenes to get him comfortable with the rigor of NRL football again<\/p>\n

"Yeah, I think I've done a bit during training. And after that Cowboys game I wasn't really happy with that and just felt different," Papenhuyzen told Nine's Thursday Night Maccas Golden Point.<\/p>\n

"So, during that week at training, I just took it on myself to get a couple of ruckies out and run at them and just pretend that I'm coming back from a kick-chase. Just face that physicality like I would.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

"So, I build confidence that way and it's slowly building but it's getting there and tonight was another stepping stone."<\/p>\n

Gould was confident Papenhuyzen was receiving the best treatment but stressed there still may be a long road ahead until 'Paps' is taking the league by the scruff of its neck again.<\/p>\n

"I still see him as very withdrawn and very cautious and very tentative about his football," Gould told Nine's 100% Footy.<\/p>\n

"The fact they're leaving it until the second half to put him on the field leads me to that they're a little bit concerned about trying to bring him along.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I can only imagine he's getting the best of care down in Melbourne \u2013 sports psychology, confidence-wise, coach, players team, he's in no better environment to deal with this injury and come back from it.<\/p>\n

"But there is no hiding the fact that he is not the player he was earlier in the year when he was just brimming with confidence and really out there.<\/p>\n

"What snaps him out of that and makes him believe in himself and do it again? It could just be a moment in a game, it could be one special play or it could just be Craig Bellamy waking up one morning when he's on the bench and saying 'Guess what Tiger? You're in today, off you go' and just shot him the deep end and see what happens.<\/p>\n

"He's had a bad knock and he's had a bad experience. He's not a big man and I guess other players are trying to sort him out too when they're feeling his confidence is down. But only he can pull himself through this."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storm gun Ryan Papenhuyzen has opened up on his road back from a concerning concussion following a week in which NRL guru Phil Gould claimed […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115264,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115262\/revisions\/115264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}