Melbourne superstar Ryan Papenhuyzen will be unavailable to make his State of Origin debut for the second year in a row.
The gun fullback was charging towards his first New South Wales jumper last year, before being knocked out by an illegal tackle in Magic Round and missing a large chunk of the season.
This season, he was once again steaming towards a Blues debut thanks to some red-hot form for the Storm over the opening couple of months.
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Origin coach Brad Fittler has already locked James Tedesco in to wear the No.1 jersey again, so Papenhuyzen’s best hope was nabbing the bench utility role for game one in Sydney on June 8.
But an injury update from Melbourne on Tuesday put paid to that idea.
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The Storm revealed Papenhuyzen suffered a hamstring and a knee injury during Sunday’s victory over the Dragons.
He has been ruled out for four to six weeks, making him unavailable for Origin I.
Papenhuyzen should be back on the park ahead of Origin II on June 26, but may only have a couple of NRL games to put himself back in the frame for a Blues debut.
The Blues are also sweating on the fitness of Cameron Murray.
The South Sydney skipper was also injured in round nine, and is now racing the clock to be ready for NSW on June 8.
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