Latest news with #JoshPapalii
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
'One of the GREATS'
NRL: Gorden Tallis has sung the praises of Josh Papalii as the former Maroons enforcer breaks the record as the Canberra Raiders most capped player.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Papalii concedes time is up after 2025 at Canberra
Josh Papalii has conceded this season will be his last with Canberra, as the prop prepares to overtake Jason Croker and break the games record for the Raiders. Papalii will overtake Croker as the Raiders' most-capped player on Sunday, when he runs out against South Sydney at GIO Stadium. At age 33, the former Queensland State of Origin prop is not ready to walk away from rugby league and wants to play on into 2026. But he has conceded it will not be at the Raiders, with the Super League looking the most likely landing spot after Papalii was previously linked to St Helens. "I think when it comes to the end of 2025, it will be the last time people see myself in a green jersey," Papalii told Chris Coleman on iHeart radio. "That's just where the club's at at the moment and where I'm at at the moment. Obviously, I would love to keep playing on - but it just won't be in Canberra. "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't (disappointment), because I love Canberra. "You're not going to find too many players that bleed green more than I do. "Especially when I play this weekend, and obviously rewrite the history books. I can honestly say that no one bleeds green more than me." Papalii made special mention of his relationship with coach Ricky Stuart, and understood Canberra's predicament with a number of rising talents in the pack. "I love this club. I love the community, I love Canberra," he said. "I will be back in the near future. "But playing wise, I really hope myself and the squad do something special this year for sure." The Changing of the over 630 combined games for the Green Machine, Jason Croker sits down with Josh Papalii to talk about Sunday's record-breaking milestone.#Papa319 #WeAreRaiders — Canberra Raiders (@RaidersCanberra) June 3, 2025 Papalii has sat down with Croker, the only other Raider to play 300 games at the club, in the past week to discuss the magnitude of his achievement. One of the most damaging props in the game for the best part of the last decade, Papalii's rise at Canberra has not been simple. He decided to leave the club in 2013 to join Parramatta, but backflipped on the deal in order to stay at the Raiders. The front-rower was also tempted to leave and join South Sydney in 2018 after being dropped early in the season, before later being name Canberra's player of the year. Papalii said his relationship with the club was now "unbreakable". "The club as been so loyal to me if you think about what I have been through off field," he said. "I probably should have been sacked 12 years ago. The club has been such a loyal base for myself and my family. "I hope I have repaid that with love and sacrifice and the way I've gone about my craft."
ABC News
3 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Driven to lead: Oneata Schwalger's journey as an apsiring female coach
As the women's game continues to gain momentum in both rugby league and union, the need for more female coaches remains clear — something Oneata Schwalger has experienced firsthand on her coaching journey. A former Women's Super Rugby and NRLW player who represented both Australia and Samoa, she began coaching through her two sons and is now setting her sights on international opportunities. Tinirau celebrates major milestones, with Alex Johnston becoming the second highest try scorer in NRL history after putting down his 200th try, and Josh Papalii is well on his way to becoming the Raiders' most capped player. Meanwhile, Sam relives Super Rugby heartbreak over the weekend as Moana Pasfikia miss out on making finals.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Consider everyone': Billy Slater could bring Queensland player out of retirement
Andrew Johns has suggested Billy Slater should give Josh Papali'i a call and ask him to come out of rep retirement to play in State of Origin 2 for Queensland. And the Maroons coach has promised to "consider everyone" when picking his team for the second game of the series. For the third game in a row, the Queensland forward pack were badly beaten by their NSW counterparts. The likes of Mo Fotuaika, Jeremiah Nanai, Reuben Cotter and Trent Loiero had little impact, while Tino Fa'asuamaleaui also struggled to assert his dominance. Slater is being urged to pick Corey Horsburgh for Game 2 to try and add some steel and firepower to his forward pack. But Johns reckons Horsburgh's Canberra teammate Papali'i might also come into calculations. The 33-year-old Papali'i retired from representative footy in 2023, but Slater might be able to convince him to change his mind. On Sunday night against the Roosters he was immense, running for 112 metres from 13 carries in 41 minutes off the bench. He also had 17 tackles for just one miss, and made 58 post-contact metres with ball in hand. Johns floated Papalii's name when discussing what Slater might do for Game 2 on the Sunday Footy Show. "Everyone's in consideration. You've got to consider everyone available," Slater responded. "But when you're throwing names up ... you've got to take people out, too. You've got to be thinking, 'Who are you going to replace them with and do they deserve that? Are they the best person for the position?'. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. "When you're in the position of trying to select Queensland's best footy team, you think about all different scenarios and you're trying to assemble the best-possible team that you can put together for Queensland to go out and perform. So that's what we'll be doing." Reece Walsh, Murray Taulagi and Ben Hunt are all likely to come into calculations after missing Game 1 due to injuries. Dane Gagai also had a good game for Newcastle on Friday night against the Dragons, while Selwyn Cobbo was quiet for the Broncos in their loss to Manly. Slater's biggest selection headache revolves around Daly Cherry-Evans. Many have called for the Maroons skipper to be axed, and Tom Dearden did himself plenty of favours with a starring performance for the Cowboys against the Tigers on Saturday night. But Cherry-Evans was also sensational against Brisbane, whereas Cameron Munster failed to fire for Melbourne against the Gold Coast. Munster missed 10 tackles and produced one of the worst Origin performances of his career in Game 1. It remains a possibility that Slater could overlook the Storm five-eighth and pick DCE and Dearden. RELATED: Andrew Johns responds amid Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler rumour Brisbane Broncos coach spotted in eye-opening move in dressing rooms Cameron Smith, who was previously an assistant to Slater, said the Maroons needed to beef up their back five. "I think when you look at NSW, they've got an aggressive back five, and I spoke in the lead-up to Game 1 that that was the part of the opposition team that I was most threatened by - their back five," he said. "Most of their [the Blues'] carries are coming in the backfield, where you need those hard, tough carries. When your two wingers are carrying like that, it saves these blokes energy [the middle forwards]."
ABC News
10-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Don Furner: I reckon Mal Meninga is the only big name player the Raiders have ever signed
The Raiders are flying this season despite (or maybe because of?) Michael Carayannis tipping them for the wooden spoon. Ahead of the top of the table clash against the Bulldogs, Canberra CEO Don Furner (19:58) joined Andrew Moore, Luke Lewis and MC to explain the culture at the club. Furner reckons that due to the difficulty they have in luring players to the Nation's Capital they rely on developing from within and that you'd have to go back 39 years to the arrival of Mal Meninga to find the last established top player they signed. He also gives updates on Josh Papali'i, Tom Starling and a new stadium for Canberra. Plus you can hear all the latest NRL News (and speculation) in MC's Hammertime (44:11).
