"Call it how it is": Why Parker thinks Papenhuyzen is off to R360

With Ryan Papenhuyzen leaving the Melbourne Storm on an early release, Corey Parker believes that this will see him join rebel competition R360 as soon as Sunday.

With a year to run on his current deal, the fullback was granted an early release earlier in the week by his club, who confirmed the news with a cryptic sentence.

"Papenhuyzen, who has a year to run on his current contract, has decided to take a break away from the game to consider his future," it said.

The speculation surrounding the 27-year-old joining the competition has been going on for the last six months, with Papenhuyzen being one of about 10 big-name NRL players linked with a move to the high-paying league.

And this has led the Brisbane Broncos legend to think that it won't be long before he joins R360.

“Look, (let’s) call it how it is,” Parker declared on SENQ Breakfast.

“Paps, whilst he is gone, effective immediately, there’s only one way he is going.

“That is R360. He won’t come out and say it just yet.

“They’ll wait until I believe after Sunday, and then it will be surprise, surprise, he’s off to R360.”

While Papenhuyzen is yet to confirm anything about his future, club CEO Justin Rodski is under the impression that Papenhuyzen's future is more than likely overseas.

He also remains adamant that the star will not join a rival NRL club.

"It could be anything," he said on SEN.

"Remaining in rugby league, there’s speculation about R360, that could be on the cards. I genuinely don’t know.

"From my discussions with him, I don’t think he knows either. He’s definitely had a conversation with them.

"There's the ban for 10 years if they go to a non-affiliated league and that probably rattled a few players.

"Regardless of that, Ryan is taking time away to decide what’s best for him."

Last week, NRL Chairman Peter V'landys announced any player or manager defecting and signing for the rebel league would be hit with a 10-year ban from the Australian league.

"I never really subscribed to it being a massive threat to the game," he continued. "I thought maybe eight or so might sign up. I didn’t think it was going to disrupt the NRL.

"The ban will rattle some and make them reconsider if they want to do it. It's a significant and hefty policy that’s been put in place. The NRL wants to stamp this out quickly.

"If it fails they would have thought they can come back to the NRL. I’m not sure you would want to take that risk.

"NRL is flying at the moment, there’s a lot of money in the player pool, there’s new teams coming in so the player market will be heavily inflated."

Papenhuyzen finishes up at Storm with an impressive 635 career points, including 77 tries and 160 goals.

Asked how he felt about the propect of seeing him in a rivals' colour, Rodski doubled down on his prediction Papenhuyzen is not looking for an Australian club.

"In the end we wanted to do what’s best for Ryan," he said. "He’s an absolute cult hero but this is a sad day in many ways.

"We determined that for both parties this was the best option.

"It would be hard to see him in other colours. I don’t think he will, I don’t think that’s why he wants the release. I genuinely think it will be overseas or not at all.

"If he did do that, it would be sad. It would be tough to see him in another team’s colours.

"He’s been down in Melbourne for a long time, the pull to go home (Sydney) might be on his mind (but) I will be surprised if he’s at another NRL club."

In a statement released by the club on Thursday, Papenhuyzen said: “I’ve loved my time at Melbourne Storm. I’ve enjoyed close to a decade of incredible memories and experiences in the purple jersey. Playing in front of the Storm fans every week has made my time in Melbourne something I’ll never forget.

“I want to thank the Club for their understanding and support throughout this process.

“I also want to thank my teammates, coaches and staff for all their love and support, it’s been a privilege playing footy and working with you.”