Ryan Papenhuyzen believes Sydney Roosters skipper James Tedesco has reclaimed his mantle as the NRL's best fullback but is hoping to cut short his resurgence with a Melbourne victory in their preliminary final.
Overcoming his latest leg injury to regain full fitness, Papenhuyzen will wear the No.1 jersey in front of a sell-out crowd at AAMI Park on Friday night, where the Storm will strive to make their first grand final since their 2020 premiership.
Tedesco is looking to return the Roosters to a decider after back-to- back titles in 2018-2019, and produced arguably his best performance of the season in the elimination of Manly last weekend.
The two-try starring role caught the eye of Papenhuyzen, who said Tedesco made a statement about keeping his Kangaroos fullback jersey out of the hands of Penrith's Dylan Edwards, who took over the NSW State of Origin slot.
The Storm star said Tedesco looked back to his imperious best.
"Definitely - it's pretty impressive what he's done," Papenhuyzen told AAP.
"I'm sure he would have been disappointed to not make Origin but he's doing a good job to make sure he's picked for the Aussie team and that will be a big bounce back if he does that.
"But hopefully we don't give him any more opportunities to play - we want to get the win this week so they're out."
Papenhuyzen said while the two wouldn't cross paths too often in the preliminary final, there was still a motivation to try to top Tedesco.
"Your performances get compared and I wouldn't say it's a main driver but it's always nice to go up against him." the 26-year-old said.
The Storm are also well aware the Roosters are far from a one-trick pony in attack, boasting the likes of world class centres Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and high-flying wingers Daniel Tupou and Dom Young.
"They've got some quality backs and even their forward pack is world class," Papenhuyzen said.
"It's pretty crazy - they've got a few out but they've still got a team that's really really good on paper so you can't switch off there, you've got to make sure you do your homework on all of them and see what their strengths are and hopefully eliminate them."
A fractured ankle kept Papenhuyzen out of last year's semi-final against the Roosters at AAMI Park, which the Storm won 18-13 after winger Will Warbrick latched on to a Cameron Munster kick to score with 90 seconds remaining.
Melbourne boast a formidable record against the Tri-colours, winning 10 of their past 11 meetings.
But Papenhuyzen says that last-gasp finals victory was a recent reminder another win was far from guaranteed.
"You can't look into it too much because sometimes it can just be a couple of calls that go your way," he said.
"That last play was off a kick and that's luck - but sometimes luck goes your way."
