Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen could’ve quietly accepted his $1000 match review committee fine and moved on. Instead, he chose to fight it and won.
The Melbourne star was put on report late in the Storm’s clash with the Dolphins for a tackle on Jake Averillo that few, if any, initially flagged as illegal. The incident went unnoticed by both the referee and Nine's commentary team until referee Todd Smith unexpectedly placed Papenhuyzen on report just moments before he lined up a conversion.
The MRC later charged the fullback with grade one dangerous contact and offered a $1000 fine. Papenhuyzen refused.
‘It was important to fight it’
Melbourne Storm General Manager Frank Ponissi told SEN’s Mornings with Matt White podcast that the club backed Papenhuyzen’s decision to challenge the charge after a closer look left them baffled.
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“Ryan felt very strongly after the game, and after he got charged, the next day he basically said, ‘I just, I had made no contact,’” Ponissi said. “The more we looked at it, spoke to our lawyer, we just couldn’t understand how he was charged.”
While the potential punishment didn’t include any game time lost, the Storm felt the principle mattered.
“It’s important that clubs still have that right to fight now under the system. The match review committee sometimes get it wrong… just because it’s a fine, they still have the opportunity, and they’ve got the right to appeal and contest it,” Ponissi added.
The result was swift. The judiciary panel returned a not-guilty verdict, leaving the club vindicated.
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But Papenhuyzen’s case also sparked a wider discussion around dangerous tackles, particularly the confusion surrounding hip-drop rulings.
Ponissi urged the NRL to urgently clarify what constitutes a hip-drop, saying, “It needs to be reclarified, because at the moment there is confusion.”
With no suspension handed down and the fine overturned, Papenhuyzen is free to take the field this weekend.