{"id":288543,"date":"2025-11-16T15:52:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/288543\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T15:52:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T15:52:21","slug":"melbourne-storm-boss-justin-rodski-unsure-of-ryan-papenhuyzens-future-plans-as-r360-rumours-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/288543\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm boss Justin Rodski unsure of Ryan Papenhuyzen’s future plans as R360 rumours continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Papenhuyzen<\/a>‘s early departure from the Storm<\/a> caused a stir in the NRL world, but club boss Justin Rodski is confident the star is unsure of what his future holds.<\/p>\n

Papenhuyzen has been linked to make the move to rebel rugby union tournament R360, with his premature exit from Melbourne only fuelling his rumoured switch more.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old did not shy away from the media after his exit was confirmed, rather informed all he spoke to that he was simply taking a break from rugby league.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW LIVE: UFC 322 coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS: Ex-star not angry, ‘just disappointed<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: ‘RIP Test cricket’: Legends fume over ‘awful’ India pitch<\/a><\/p>\n

In a post on his Instagram, Papenhuyzen admitted he was eager to “explore life beyond the game<\/a>“. He then told 9News that he was unsure what 2026 looked like careerwise. <\/p>\n

Still, the links to R360 continued to overshadow those comments, with many noting that a release from Melbourne only makes a move to the tournament easier.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Ryan Papenhuyzen in action for the Storm.\u00a0Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Any player who elects to make the move from the NRL to R360 would be hit with a 10-year ban from the league, which would leave Papenhuyzen in danger.<\/p>\n

But according Rodski, who worked with the star’s management for a month to decide his release, admitted a move to R360 would be one Papenhuyzen is considering.<\/p>\n

“I’ve spoken to him,” Rodski said on SEN’s The Captain’s Run.<\/p>\n

“He’s still in that period of deciding what he wants to do next and I’m actually not sure which way he is going to go. I’m not convinced he is either.<\/p>\n

“R360 is definitely something that he is considering. Whether or not he ends up going there and doing that in the short term, I’m not really sure.”<\/p>\n

A contract clause<\/a> of a mutual option to extend into 2027 had many Storm fans hopeful he would stay put, although that term had to be activated by November 1 this year.<\/p>\n

Rodski confirmed there was no hard feelings between the club and Papenhuyzen when the release was finally put in to place.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Papenhuyzen celebrates with Storm teammates after scoring a try.\u00a0Mike Owen via Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, he did understand that many fans would be surprised by the decision. <\/p>\n

“In terms of reaction, I think initially, quite a lot of our fans were pretty shocked,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But ultimately, he’s been an incredible player for the club, (he’s) a cult hero here, and he’s very generous with the fans, whether it be post-game or on social media.<\/p>\n

“He’s built a really strong connection with the Storm \u2026 we made sure we really celebrated his career and his time here.<\/p>\n

“It was very mutual in the end that we parted ways, so he kind of goes with our blessing but he leaves here as a premiership player and Clive Churchill Medallist and ultimately will always be a part of the Melbourne Storm family.<\/p>\n

“We move forward now and look at opportunities for players to come in, step up and play a role in that fullback position.”<\/p>\n

Sua Faalogo looks set to wear the No.1 jumper moving forward for the Storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Papenhuyzen‘s early departure from the Storm caused a stir in the NRL world, but club boss Justin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-288543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}