Melbourne may have a ready-made replacement for injured fullback Jahrome Hughes but the Storm are reeling after centre Curtis Scott’s bittersweet NRL return.
They may have a ready-made replacement for injured fullback Jahrome Hughes but Melbourne are still counting the cost of their 64-10 NRL romp over Parramatta after Curtis Scott’s bittersweet return.
Ryan Papenhuyzen is set to slot straight in at No.1 in the Storm’s Thursday night clash with Wests Tigers after stepping up when Hughes copped a sickening late hit early in the second half against the Eels.
However, it remains to be seen how the Storm cope with the loss of Scott who suffered a suspected fractured foot in a rollercoaster NRL comeback.
Scott appeared on the outer after being relegated to the Storm reserves for the past fortnight due to poor form and personal issues, sparking speculation Melbourne would offload the centre.
But Scott made a triumphant return after being a late inclusion to the starting side for the Magic Round showdown, running a mammoth 258m and busting nine tackles in a stellar display capped by a 46th-minute length-of-the-field try.
Yet his night ended in tears with Scott facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines nursing a foot fracture.
The full extent of the injury is set to be determined by scans on Monday.
“He played great but as you can imagine he is very disappointed with what looks like a reasonably major injury,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said.
“To the kid’s credit he took the demotion really well.
“He is shattered at the moment and looks like he might have a broken bone in his foot – he was playing so well.”
Papenhuyzen’s fullback stint after a dazed Hughes was assisted from the field following a 49th-minute hit from sin-binned Eels winger Maika Sivo at least provided Bellamy some consolation.
Bellamy admitted Hughes looked unlikely to back up against the Tigers but lavished praise on livewire Papenhuyzen who ran 129m, broke five tackles, had three line breaks and set up three tries.
“He came on at an ideal time when a guy was in the bin, touched the ball four times and I think we scored four times,” Bellamy said.
“Ryan was outstanding. He has a couple of real good traits and everyone could see one of them and that’s speed.
“He is only small, and still learning the game without a doubt, but he is a tough kid.”
© AAP
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