Papenhuyzen takes pay cut to chase Storm premiership

“There’s an aspect of backing yourself but I’m not backing myself to get more money. I’m sort of backing myself to be a valuable member of the squad,” Papenhuyzen said.

“I think that’s something that I’ve really thought about. Initially, when the first offer came through, I was a little bit disheartened and sort of thought, it’s a hit to the ego taking a pay cut.

“But I think after sitting on it for a while, it was more than the money. It’s a growth decision.

“It’s been an environment where you’ve built this thing together and you just want to see it out and see some good things happen from it.”

With young speedster Sua Fa’alogo nipping at his heels as starting fullback, Papenhuyzen still might leave in 2027 or beyond.

But after a horrific few years of injuries, he feels he can regain even more speed and agility after having the plates and screws from leg surgically removed following the Storm’s grand final loss to Penrith.

“Theoretically, in my mind, that makes sense that I’ll get my agility and everything back,” Papenhuyzen said.

“But you’ve still got to put in that work and I’ve got a really clear plan with that this year.”

One final thing that kept Papenhuyzen in purple was that in Melbourne, almost everyone supports the Storm, even random cyclists.

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“You go up to Sydney and there’s so many teams up there, you don’t know if someone might spray you on the bike going past,” Papenhuyzen said with a laugh.

“Whereas here you feel the love from everyone and it’s a really nice feeling.

“I feel settled here. Those fan encounters and going past there, it’s not the first time it happens. Hopefully, that can stay the same way. I do to get a massive kick out of it.”

Munster reveals Bellamy spoke to Maroons stars before taking Blues role

Melbourne Storm star Cam Munster – on the path back to full fitness after hip surgery – said coach Craig Bellamy called his Queensland contingent before taking on an advisory role with the NSW Blues.

Munster is back on his feet during his rehabilitation after needing surgery on both his hips following the NRL grand final loss to Penrith.“I feel really young, surprisingly,” Munster said on Friday.

“I’m pretty frustrated. I’ve been inside for a while and I want to be able to get back out there and run, but I’m optimistic. I won’t be able to run until February. I’m doing everything I can to fast track it but [the fitness staff] are not going to push as hard as I want to go.”

The Storm five-eighth is pain-free and back at AAMI Park to continue rebuilding strength in his glutes, groins and hips.

“I will be ready to go by round one – which is me pencilling myself in,” Munster said.“I’ll be hopefully running and doing full contact by February, hopefully even get a trial game in but we’ll see where we are at.”

Munster revealed that Bellamy called his Queensland stars before returning to the origin arena as a coaching advisor to new Blues coach Laurie Daley.“He rang me to see if it was alright, so I’m pretty much his dad now,” Munster said with a laugh.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for him. It’s probably a bit frustrating for some players in our team because we’re going to go up against him. Hopefully, we get the wood over him as I’d love to do that.”

Munster has also set his sights on regaining the Queensland five-eighth role from Tom Dearden.

“[Storm captain] Harry Grant has his name pencilled in [at hooker] but I’ve still got to get picked,” Munster said.

“Great competition brings the best out of you and now I’ve got Tommy breathing down my neck, it’s great for Queensland.”

Munster has never had an injury recovery as long or challenging as this one but as he painstakingly rebuilds his strength and fitness in the next two months, he will be driven by the feeling his time left in the game is short.

“I just know that I’ve only got a certain amount of years left to play footy, so I want to get the best out of it,” Munster said.

“I wish I had that mindset five years ago. We’ve had some good finals runs but haven’t had that cherry on top since 2020 so that’s something that’s a driving factor – we all want to win but how hard are you willing to work? I’m going to put myself in some uncomfortable positions and try to go that bit harder and get a lot better.”

NRL tells clubs kick-off collisions here to stay despite concussion fears

The NRL has informed clubs the kick-off is here to stay despite debate over its place in the game following a string of concussions in 2024.

At a six-hour club chief executives meeting at NRL headquarters on Wednesday, the code’s head of football Graham Annesley told respective club bosses that there would be no changes to the kick-off rule heading into next season.

The NRL insists it has given no thought to altering the rules to minimise collision by banning or modifying the kick-off rules to reduce heavy-impact challenges.

Concerns over the safety of players, prompted by knock-out blows suffered by Roosters’ prop Lindsay Collins and Dragons centre Moses Suli, have been a topic of conversation over the past year.

The NRL, however, has no desire to alter what is regarded as one of the sport’s most brutal confrontations when the attacking player charges up to 30 metres to meet a wall of defenders pelting towards him.

The NRL’s position was welcomed by the clubs who were concerned the NRL might be tempted into tinkering with the fabric of the game due to the public backlash following the injuries to Collins and Suli.

Collins was knocked out on the opening hit-up of the preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm and would have missed the grand final had the Roosters made it that far.

The player who inflicted the damage, Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona, was banned for five matches as a result.

Suli was knocked out trying to tackle Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in the first play of a game on Anzac Day, which later prompted coach Shane Flanagan to admit: “Short kick-offs take out big collisions, but they bring in other issues like people jumping and landing on their heads.”

The NRL made an adjustment to the rules last year, refraining from penalising teams who botched short kick-off and drop-out attempts. Instead of penalising the infringing team, the opposition was awarded a handover.

The NRL said it was designed to encourage teams to compete for the ball and add to the spectacle of the contest, rather than a ploy to minimise heavy contact opportunities in the game.

Leo aims to follow Warbrick’s road from Olympics to Storm

By Roy Ward

Melbourne Storm signing Moses Leo has yet to face the worst of coach Craig Bellamy’s pre-season, but the city’s famous weather has already caught the former rugby sevens star on the hop.

The 27-year-old Paris Olympian secured a release from New Zealand Rugby last month to allow a move to Storm a year earlier than planned.

The Storm are still to do their exhausting “I don’t quit camp” and the club is still to send its new signings for their two-week stint on a building site, so Leo has plenty to look forward to.

But the simple task of walking home has already exposed him to Melbourne’s fickle weather.

“I’ve done a few walks home. I’m living just across Swan Street [down the road from AAMI Park] and I’m walking along thinking it’s a nice day. Next minute it’s raining and I’m running, I’m legging it back home,” Leo said with a laugh.

“I’ve got to be on my toes, even with the weather.”

Leo is a former housemate of star Storm winger Will Warbrick. That player inspired his countrymen by moving from sevens to become one of the NRL’s most damaging wingers.

”Seeing his [Warbrick’s] success made this a real option for me and, especially this team and what they breed in this environment. His success was a real motivation for me,” Leo said. “There are different details I need to learn and get my head around – once I get all that settled, I’ll be off to the races I think.

“I did my homework with Will, I asked him what it was like to do the transition, and he said it was the best thing he’s done.”

Warbrick needed a year of training and reserve-grade play to get a handle on defending in the 13-man game.

But Leo, who can play on the wing or in the centres, played rugby league during high school and wants to find his feet as quickly as possible without putting too much pressure on himself.

“I played league in my last year of school and some club as well – the union season is shorter in NZ so I would go over and play some league games,” Leo said.

“No expectations there. I’m just going to be the best me that I can be and do what’s best for the team.”

The Storm’s senior players and internationals return to training over the next two weeks and the club has yet to decide when their new players will head to a building site for two weeks on the tools so, for now, Leo is focusing on training.

Why the Tigers brightest star is feasting on the Donald Trump diet

Lachlan Galvin is 19, the NRL’s most hyped young talent in years, and with a healthy helping hand from McDonald’s, is going to get bigger.

The Tigers five-eighth has grown another two centimetres to stand at 193cm (the tallest regular No.6 in the game) and shaved three seconds off the 1.2km time trial in which he already held the club record.

But having played at around 85kg in his impressive rookie season, the Tigers want Galvin adding size to his lean frame, a remit he’s struggled with so far this pre-season.

The Tiger’s licence to eat won’t quite trigger a Donald Trump-esque pivot to a dozen Diet Cokes, Doritos and McDonald’s for Galvin.

But along with coach Benji Marshall “hovering around me, making sure I do all my reps” in the gym, a steer toward his post-game indulgence in McDonald’s dinner boxes on a more regular basis is encouraged.

“I don’t eat enough. Every morning I’m in here, they tell me, ‘Eat breakfast, eat lunch’, they watch me eat [because] I’ve got to put the kilos on. I struggle with that but I’m trying my best,” the Tigers tyro said.

“The dietician Clare (Flower), she says, ‘Eat what you want, Lachlan’, so it’s pretty good.

“I get a dinner box from Macca’s on the way home [after games]. Clare spoke about calorie targets but I don’t even know what that means. I’ll just try to eat as much as I can. If I come in the morning and I weigh more than I did yesterday, I’m happy.”

Galvin’s debut season would have yielded rookie of the year honours if not for a two-game suspension, and had judges including Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Phil Gould lauding him as a generational talent.

The Tigers are accordingly wary of NRL rivals looking to prise Galvin out of Concord, especially given the well-documented release requests and emergency meetings with the Galvin family in June.

Extension talks have been flagged for the new year given Galvin’s current contract expires at the end of 2026, potentially putting him on the market in a year’s time as new expansion clubs become likely to circle.

The youngster dead-batted questions around his future, but the looming arrival of ex-Panthers star Jarome Luai is an undoubted attraction in staying.

Luai’s $6 million, five-year commitment to the joint venture not only brings a bona fide premiership winner to the Tigers alongside recruits Terrell May, Sunia Turuva and Royce Hunt, but also takes heat off Galvin in his development as a playmaker.

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“Dad and I were sitting there thinking ‘I’m going to play alongside him next year’ – it’s a bit crazy,” Galvin said of watching Luai’s fourth-straight premiership win at Penrith.

“He’s going to help us so much and change the culture around here.

“We know how good a player he is; he’ll take so much pressure off me. He’ll run the team and I’ll just play off the back of that.”