RedZed Report: Round 15

The fortnightly RedZed Report, bringing you updates direct from Storm HQ about our injury list, club news and all things footy.

Injury Update

Ryan Papenhuyzen (concussion)

Sidelined since: Round 10

"He's doing more running and feeling good," Football Operations Coordinator Ryan Hoffman said of Paps' recovery. "He's on track for a return against the Roosters."

Christian Welch (head knock)

Sidelined since: Round 14

Welchy came off for a HIA early in Origin I and missed our round 14 match as a result. "We're not worried about him - he should be good to go this week," Hoffman said. "He has a few things to tick off but we're confident he'll be back to face the Tigers."

Jesse Bromwich

Sidelined since: Round 14

"Jesse won't play (in round 15). He has an ongoing elbow issue and needs rest. He should be good to return after the bye."

Kenny Bromwich (ribs)

Sidelined since: Round 13

"Kenny had his ribs injected with a pain killer to see if he could play through his injury but it wasn't effective," Hoffman said. "He won't play this week but we expect he will be good to go after the bye."

Ryley Jacks (ankle)

Sidelined since: Round 14

Jacksy has been in the wars - he injured his ankle during our ISC feeder club clash at the weekend. "He had scans on his ankle which confirmed it wasn't broken," Hoff said. "He's still looking at a few weeks on the sidelines."

Max King (achilles)

Sidelined since: January 2021

A stalwart of this injury list, Max is making slow progress after a number of setbacks during his rehab (following off-season surgery). Still no expected return date yet.

Tyson Smoothy (knee)

Sidelined since: Round 10

Tyson suffered a PCL rupture in round 10 but avoided surgery. He is expected to be out of action for an extended period.

Round 15 preview

Our scheduled home game against the Tigers will be played at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Saturday night. Queenslanders, you can purchase tickets here. No offence but we're hopeful it will be our last "home" game up there this season, so don't miss it! Thanks for taking up the mantle for us in the last few weeks.

Our round 15 opposition downed both the Dragons and the Panthers in successive weeks but are coming off a 40-12 thumping handed to them by Parramatta in round 14.

Tigers five-eighth Moses Mbye (knee) has a shot at a comeback from injury this week and forward Thomas Mikaele (knee) is also hopeful.

Club news

Moeroa to join Melbourne Storm

Former Parramatta Eels forward Tepai Moeroa will return to rugby league to play with Storm for the remainder of the 2021 NRL season.

The 25-year-old played 112 matches for Parramatta between 2014 and 2019 and gained representative honours for Cook Islands, the Prime Minister’s XIII and the World All Stars.

He made the switch to rugby, where he had previously played for the Australian Schoolboys, for the 2020 season.

He’s still in his mid-20s so he’s in the prime of his football career. Coming in midway through the season and changing codes will have its challenges, but we expect Tepai will adapt quickly.

Frank Ponissi Football Manager

Storm ready to p(l)ay smarter with Openpay

Another Melbourne born and bred company, Openpay, has signed with the club for the 2021 season.

Founded in 2013, Openpay provides a platform to “buy now pay later” and manage payments through fortnightly instalments across a large variety of purchases up to $20,000.

The Openpay core values of family, passion, respect and accountability will be immediately familiar to Storm fans.

When we sit down with partners, we talk to them about an alignment not just in our commercial opportunities but in our values and benefits that we can deliver together to the Storm community.

Justin Rodski Storm CEO

The brand is aligned with a growing number of businesses in the automotive, healthcare, home improvement and education industries and provides services to customers and merchants in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.