Papenhuyzen was ribbed by Harry Grant for his field goal late in their thumping 37-10 qualifying final win over Cronulla, the skipper saying his teammate just wanted to get on the scoreboard after missing out on a try.
The fullback laughed off his captain's jibe and said that unlike past seasons, he didn't need to be among the tryscorers for Melbourne to win, with so many players now a try-scoring threat
Match Highlights 🎥 - — NRL (@NRL) #NRLFinalsA Harry Grant hat-trick helped the Storm demolish the Sharks to advance to the Preliminary Finals! pic.twitter.com/McwAI4rFrLSeptember 14, 2024
Statistics back up his claim with winger Will Warbrick the side's leading tryscorer with 13, ahead of Tyran Wishart and Eli Katoa, who have both crossed 12 times.
Last year utility Wishart, albeit with less game time, only scored once while second-rower Katoa was restricted to six tries.
On the back of injury-interrupted seasons, Papenhuyzen sits fourth in the club tally with 11 tries from 17 games, while winger Xavier Coates has the team's best strike rate with 10 from just 13 matches.
Some nine players, including Grant who bagged the first hat-trick of his NRL career in the win over the Sharks, have scored eight tries or more this season - up from five in 2023.
In comparison, three-time title winners Penrith only have four players.
"It just feels like we have threats everywhere," Papenhuyzen told AAP.
"We aren't relying on one or two players to score, there's threats right across the field which I think is a real strength."
The emergence of Katoa this season, as well as his second-row partner Shawn Blore, has prompted comparisons to Melbourne's last premiership team, in 2020.
Then, second-rowers Felise Kaufusi and Kenny Bromwich, who both left at the end of 2022 to join the Dolphins, proved a handful in both attack and defence for opposition teams.
Papenhuyzen, who won the Clive Churchill medal in that grand final victory, said he could see the similarities between the two pairings.
"When Fus (Kaufusi) and Kenny (Bromwich) were in the side, you trusted their defence, you knew they were going to do their job," the 26-year-old said.
"It's the same with Eli (Katoa), whose been scoring tries, and Blorey (Blore); you have confidence in them in their role."
For the past three seasons Papenhuyzen has battled numerous injuries, the latest bone bruising in his leg which forced him to miss their final-round win over Brisbane.
But he said he had no concerns ahead of their preliminary final in Melbourne in 10 days times, against either Manly or the Sydney Roosters.
"I'm feeling the best I've felt in ages," he said.
"I could have played that last match against the Broncos but we decided to wait another week but the leg feels great."
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