LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Melbourne's hopes for the NRL premiership have taken a significant hit as Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Ryan Papenhuyzen are set to join Jahrome Hughes on the sidelines for the finals.
Should Asofa-Solomona choose to accept an early guilty plea, the only scenario in which he might return this year would involve the Storm losing their qualifying final against Canterbury and subsequently reaching the grand final.
If he decides to contest the charge unsuccessfully, he would face a four-game suspension, effectively ruling him out of the entire finals series.
Papenhuyzen, on the other hand, will sit out the opening week of the finals after sustaining an injury from a collision with Brisbane's Josiah Karapani. The Storm confirmed that their star fullback did not pass a head injury assessment and will be undergoing concussion protocols ahead of their match against Canterbury next week.
This incident marks Papenhuyzen's second concussion in just a month, and he will need to recover from his symptoms adequately to be eligible for the team's second finals match. Notably, he missed 10 weeks during the 2021 season due to lingering concussion issues.