There is no doubt that when he is injury free and in form Ryan Papenhuyzen is a game changing player. Lightening fast, he can cause nightmares for any opposition, but most importantly he is a player that can win you football games.
The Canterbury Bulldogs have been rebuilding for a number of years now, and on the back of their defense they managed to make the 2024 NRL finals series for the first time in years. Now the club is aiming higher…
The reports recently that the Bulldogs are looking at Ryan Papenhuyzen are no surprise. He is the type of players that can raise a teams ceiling. There is no doubt that Ryan Papenhuyzen would make the Bulldogs a much more dangerous club to face in the finals.
The problem is Ryan Papenhuyzen’s injury record. It isn’t good. At more than one point his playing future has been brought into question by devastating leg injuries. If you sign Ryan Papenhuyzen you get a potential game winner….but you could also be getting a player who could miss a lot of games for your clubs just based on his last few years at the Storm.
It would be a big gamble…..
There is a lot to be said for players that are seemingly always available. Even if you look at the incredible run of the Penrith Panthers over the last four years, even though they have had to deal with players that have been injured for stretches of every season, when they got to the finals they had pretty much everyone available and ready to play. That is a major reason for their success.
Investing so much money in a player that has missed so many games as Ryan Papenhuyzen has, it could come back to hurt a club if he isn’t available when it matters in the finals. Still, I feel like the Bulldogs have to go for it and sign him if they can.
These are the sort of big decisions that can make or break a clubs run at the Premiership. If a team gets it right, they look like geniuses. If they get it wrong, you can cost a team that is close any chance they have of winning a Premiership for a very long time.
It’s great that the Bulldogs are in this position finally to have to make these decisions. Let’s hope they make the right call when its all said and done.
