Back to plan A: Paps' injury bittersweet for roommate Meaney

Nick Meaney roomed with Ryan Papenhuyzen last week and was left to pack his teammate’s bags and clean up their hotel room without him after their loss to the Broncos.

Meaney has felt the full extent of Papenhuyzen’s latest setback most after taking his No.1 jersey this year while the Storm star was sidelined and looking to return towards the finals.

It’s why when the Clive Churchill medal winner clutched at his ankle, Meaney kept looking back at the big screen for a replay before standing there with him to offer his support.

“We’ve all reached out and we’re shattered for him and everyone’s been rattled from it,” Meaney told NRL.com.

“They’re saying around January that he can get back into training. Obviously you don’t want any injury but not a worse-case scenario.

“At the time we all thought it was a compound fracture so to hear it was a normal fracture and he can get it fixed and be back out there soon is some good news.”

The bittersweet silver lining for Meaney moving forward on Friday night is that he doesn’t have to adjust for Papenhuyzen’s injection on the field and can have a clearer mentality around playing at the back for a full match again.

Meaney’s stunning season at fullback was enough to keep Papenhuyzen on the bench but how he was going to be played by Craig Bellamy during the finals was one of the talking points of the year.

“There was a period of time when he was nearing a return where I was thinking whether I would have to give up my spot but the coaching staff had shared that I’d done a good enough job to stay there,” Meaney said.

“That gave me confidence. When Paps first got onto the field it was a bit of a change in how do we both fit in the same system.

“At times it can be a bit confusing but in the end we’re both footballers who put the team first and do whatever we can to help the team win and we're good mates.

“Obviously now it kind of puts those questions to bed this year and we can focus on what we need to do on Friday.”

Meaney conceded he was below his best against the Broncos last week and wasn’t alone.

The 26-0 scoreline was reflective of Brisbane’s dominance with not much going right for the Storm as they now enter a do-or-die clash against the Roosters on Friday night.

“We all did a bit of self-reflection, and the coach takes care of the team stuff,” Meaney said.

“The good thing for us is they’re easy fixes. We don’t like to overdo things after a loss like that. We keep it short and sharp to get better at.

“All the boys will be keen to get back out there and correct the errors we made.”

Meaney is yet to experience a first finals win after the Storm were bundled out of the finals on home turf to Canberra at AAMI Park last year – a result that still stings for the fullback.

“We really owe our fans a good home finals performance especially after last year and the game on Friday night,” he said.

“The Roosters had a courageous win last week and have turned their season around despite a few injuries.

“Teddy’s (James Tedesco) always a threat around the middle with tired forwards and Sam Walker has been playing good footy for them.

“Add in their forwards who are motoring forward and we’ll need to slow that down.”