Twelve months after playing in an NRL grand final, Ryan Papenhuyzen is standing on the first tee box at Wollongong Golf Club, handicap of 11, and more than happy to talk about why he has no intention of ever lacing up football boots again.
The former Melbourne Storm fullback — a premiership winner and Clive Churchill Medallist in 2020 — retired at the peak of his powers, turning down a million-dollar contract with the Storm to step away from professional rugby league entirely. One year on, he is playing golf, caddying for Australian golfer Daniel Gale, and coaching clients in mental performance. He has no regrets.
Setting the record straight on retirement
Papenhuyzen chose Wollongong as the backdrop for his sit-down — he is staying nearby in Bulli with his girlfriend's family — and the coastal course, which overlooks WIN Stadium and Wollongong City Beach, offered him a fitting stage to address the persistent disbelief that has followed his exit from the game.
"People just don't believe it," he said. "Maybe it's the concept of walking away from a million dollars. Why would you give that money up? There's probably a little bit of disbelief with that."
He understands the scepticism, but sees it as a reflection of how professional sport is perceived from the outside rather than lived from within.
"People will work all week, and they'll sit and watch the footy, and it's their joy of the week. A lot of people wish that they could be in that position," he said. "But there are things that come with it. You're putting your body through probably the hardest thing you'll ever go through physically. You're tied to certain things. You lose your anonymity."
"It'll sound really ungrateful, but it's more about understanding what comes with it. Just because you're good at it doesn't mean you need to do it. Find something that aligns more to how you want to live your life."
No rugby union, no comeback — just golf and clarity
Speculation had swirled in the months following his retirement that Papenhuyzen might pivot to Japanese rugby or sign with the now-defunct rebel competition R360. He is emphatic that neither was ever a genuine path.
"No regrets," he said. "I learned everything I needed to learn out of rugby league. I achieved success quite early on. Then had all the pitfalls of injuries. I feel like I lived out both ends of the spectrum. As the year's gone, I just have no drive or want to get back in that arena."
A telling detail: Papenhuyzen knows his 10-digit Golf ID number by heart. When asked for it at the pro shop, he recites it without hesitation — a small but telling sign of where his focus now lies.
Golf as a philosophy
Papenhuyzen uses the golf course as more than a pastime. For him, it is a lens through which to understand life more broadly — a philosophy he articulates with the same clarity he once brought to reading a defensive line.
"Golf's just like the game of life, I reckon," he said. "You go through your journey of bad shots, but if you don't respond to it well, then it's going to be two bad shots, and it just compounds. It's four hours of pretty much living out what I know life to be at the moment at 28 years old."
As the NRL prepares for Sunday's grand final between the Roosters and the Knights, one of the competition's most electrifying players of recent years is watching from well outside the arena — content, grounded, and somewhere near the 18th green at Wollongong Golf Club.
The occasional passer-by on an adjacent fairway can apparently still barely believe it. "What is Ryan Papenhuyzen doing here?" one onlooker was heard asking. For Papenhuyzen, that reaction tells its own story.
