The Canberra Raiders are in a holding pattern as they look to lock in a stack of high-profile stars but they can rest easy knowing Joe Tapine isn't going anywhere.
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Almost half of Canberra's NRL squad is off-contract at the end of this season and the club is waiting to hear back on offers as they prepare to face the Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
But they have back-rower Tapine nailed down until the end of 2019 in welcome news for coach Ricky Stuart as the Green Machine go knocking on the door of the top eight.
Tapine arrived in Canberra from Newcastle as a second-rower but Stuart transformed him into a middle player to get him used to the grind of the NRL after starting just 12 of his first 61 first grade games.
Now he has shifted back to the edge and racked up 12 starts on the trot, but the numbers that impress Stuart most are 53 and 80.
Tapine made 53 tackles in Canberra's win over North Queensland last week as he punched out a spirited 80-minute performance.
"Joey made over 50 tackles so there was some really big contributions defensively on the weekend," Stuart said.
"Joey was good. He is still only young and playing him in the middle to get the foundation and a bit of a platform into his game to understand the intensity and the speed of NRL was always the plan.
"Now he has moved back to the edge he is really finding what it’s like to play NRL for 80 minutes of footy and he is really doing a good job for us.
"When I played him in the middle it was all about trying to teach him how to play under fatigue. With the workload that he displayed on the weekend and also playing for 80 minutes is huge for the team.
"There was times there where he was really under fatigue and he still kept working hard through that period so that was a really big advantage for us."
The Titans stunned the Raiders in a late fightback in round one to kickstart a miserable opening month for the Green Machine - but avenging that loss is not at the top of the agenda.
Stuart says the Raiders have buried the demons of round one and instead are focused on moving one step closer to the top eight, sitting one win outside it leading into the Titans showdown.
"It’s a new preparation now, we’ve got to leave that where it is and we move forward into our next game and the next job what we’ve got to do," Stuart said.
"I was disappointed with our defence against Souths and we corrected it this week. I’m a firm believer in everybody doing their job, and I think there was one small lapse but we know why, that was good to know.
"Everyone was doing their job [against the Cowboys], some boys work extremely hard defensively."
Stuart knows the toughest task in the NRL is to back it up every week and that is exactly what he will need his side to do on Saturday.
NRL ROUND NINE
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Gold Coast Titans at Canberra Stadium, 3pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
