ANALYSIS: One in, one out as Papenhuyzen returns after 405 days in Storm win, but Hughes departs with knee injury

It took until the 62nd minute, but the fans eventually got what they came for. After more than a year out, Ryan Papenhuyen made his return to the NRL to see the Storm home 37-16 against the Titans.

They needed him, too. The score when he entered was 18-16 and Melbourne, if not on the ropes, were certainly rocking. 

Within a minute of Papi’s entry, Christian Welch barged over to take the lead out to eight points, which was more than enough, though a Elie Katoa and a hat trick clincher from Xavier Coates made the scoreline glossier than it perhaps deserved to be.

Having got one star back, the Storm now have to worry about others. Jahrome Hughes didn’t finish the game with a knee injury and left straight down the tunnel, while Harry Grant took a nasty bang to the shoulder, though he finished the game and was a clear man of the match.

“It looks like he’s got a slight medial,” said coach Craig Bellamy of Hughes. “They don’t think it’s too bad but I wouldn’t imagine he will play next week as it’s a five-day turnaround.

“He will go for a scan tomorrow. Given how he feels now I don’t think they think it’s a whole heap of damage but I couldn’t imagine him playing next week.”

With more than 400 days between drinks, it is reasonable to moderate expectations for Papenhuyzen. Internally, Bellamy will be doing exactly that.

But it’s hard not to get carried away with one of the NRL’s most charismatic players, especially when his side so clearly need him.

For all that Melbourne are in the top four, they have toiled at times. A bit of mulletted magic goes a long way.

For an hour, the Titans were more than their match and might have been disappointed not to have been ahead. 

They gave it an almighty shake early in the second half and were behind only via a penalty goal, but just like most weeks, gave themselves far too much to do through poor defensive organisation.

Interim boss Jim Lenihan can only sigh. Again, his side looked great with the ball, but again, shot themselves in the foot without it.

He was most angered by an incident that saw Kieran Foran forced from the field for a concussion test after being caught high by Papenhuyzen, even though no penalty was forthcoming.

“I sort of get a bit baffled how we don’t get the penalty for Kieran getting hit in the head yet the doctor takes him off for being hit in the head,” he said.

“I felt like we deserved a penalty at that point and we didn’t get it and then we lose our best ballplayer for the rest of the game inside the last 15 minutes and then they get two tries to finish us off.

“I’m proud of the boys’ effort, I think we really tried really hard with what we’ve got out there playing right now.”

Melbourne muddle their way through

It was, for a long time, pretty so-so stuff. The Storm were far too good for the Titans, but at this stage of the year, fans might have hoped for more.

Every time they went wide they looked like scoring – but then, so does everyone who plays against the Titans. They’re the owners of the league’s worst edge defence and it was no surprise that all three first half tries were from the wingers.

The first, for Will Warbrick, was a smart piece of improvisation from Jahrome Hughes to kcik in behind, but the other two, for Coates, were highly preventable and pretty defences probably would have done exactly that.

What will disconcert Melbourne will be the ease with which the Titans converted minimal amounts of field position into points.

Chris Randall scored directly from dummy half – the sort of soft try that makes Bellamy absolutely seethe – and the second, a close range effort from Brian Kelly, wasn’t much better.

For all that the Gold Coast can’t tackle, they certainly can attack – but didn’t have to be brilliant to pull the game back to 12-12.

The Titans picked apart the seam defence, with neither Marion Seve nor Young Tonumaipea able to deal with their opposing numbers.

It took the lift that came with Papenhuyzen’s entry to get them home. He offered a characteristic spark on the footy and, with his first carry, won a quick ruck that lead to Welch’s try. 

If they are to progress deep in the post-season, it won’t be a lack of flair that holds them back. It’ll be the edge defence – and the questions in that area very much remain.

A glimpse of the Titans’ future

The Titans have nothing to play for collectively, but for a few of their stars, there are points to be made ahead of Des Hasler’s arrival next year.

Tom Weaver is in that category. Few youngsters have had such a baptism of fire: he got Penrith on his debut and Melbourne in Melbourne for his second match. No amount of junior footy is going to help there.

The halfback was far from their worst in defeat last week, setting up a try and kicking for over 700m, but was spotted up in defence by the Panthers, as might have been expected.

This week, he looked a lot more solid despite the same sort of targeting and showed that same composure in organisation, as well as flashes in attack.

He produced one superb kick under pressure in the second half to force a dropout and a brilliantly weighted pass that allowed AJ Brimson to show his speed and get Jojo Fifita over.

Keano Kini also entered in the second half – admittedly, not the headline fullback interchange of the day – with Brimson moving to centre.

There’s been some chat that AJ might be of most use in that role, and on today’s evidence, it doesn’t seem the worst idea.

His capabilities in attack have never been in doubt, and it does allow one of Kini or Jayden Campbell to take up the fullback role, which is clearly their best position.

The edge defence really can’t get any worse, either, so it’s worth throwing a few ideas around at this time of year to see what sticks.