Joe Tapine has packed a World Cup, a knee injury and getting engaged into his NRL off-season, but it was his first training session of the 2018 campaign that left him "rattled".
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Tapine made an earlier-than-expected comeback to Raiders training on Monday in the hope it will help him hit the ground running when training ramps up in January.
But hooker Kurt Baptiste won't be joining him after he was released from his contract to make the Raiders salary-cap compliant.
The Raiders have been powering through a massive pre-season work load without their World Cup contingent, but they have been filtering back into club headquarters to get a head start on their rivals.
Junior Paulo, Joey Leilua and Josh Papalii returned last week, Tapine joined them on Monday and Jordan Rapana and Elliott Whitehead will be back after the Christmas break.
Josh Hodgson has started his rehabilitation after knee surgery and being ruled out for up to nine months, and Tapine feared he had suffered the same fate when he twisted awkwardly during the World Cup.
Tapine escaped with medial ligament damage and blew out the cobwebs with a draining fitness session with his Raiders teammates.
"I haven't really had any injuries before and when my knee happened, I panicked a bit. But I'm glad it wasn't the ACL [like Hodgson], but it was still pretty sore," Tapine said.
"I'm pretty rattled after that first training session actually, I'm pretty out of shape because I haven't been able to do anything after the knee injury.
"I wanted to come back early. I spoke with [Raiders coach Ricky Stuart] before the World Cup about making sure I came back fit and at the right weight.
"I'm at the right weight, but just haven't been running so it was pretty tough. But it was great to be back out there with the boys and seeing some new faces getting stuck in as well."
Tapine established himself as one of New Zealand's best at his debut World Cup, cementing his place in the starting side and finding his feet on the international stage.
The 23-year-old back-rower wants to transfer that into his lime green jersey to take the next step in his NRL career.
"I really wanted to learn off the other boys in the New Zealand side to make my game better so I could bring it back to Canberra," Tapine said.
"I think I kind of did that, I learnt about the need to talk to lead. I'm happy with how it went and I felt comfortable there."
Baptiste is facing a different sort of future, although his one-year deal with UK Super League club Leigh Centurions opens the door for a Raiders return as early as 2019.
The Raiders had been hoping to keep Baptiste for next season after Hodgson was injured at the World CUp, but the Green Machine had to release the 26-year-old to fit under the $9.4 million salary cap.
The Raiders have recruited Craig Garvey and Siliva Havili to fill the void left by Hodgson and Baptiste at hooker and could add another rake to their roster before the season starts.
"Kurt's signature is a huge coup for the club," said Leigh head coach Neil Jukes said.
"On and off the field he will add great leadership values and bring the quality trends he has developed from two elite environments in the [Brisbane] Broncos and the Raiders.
"His energy, control and running game will be infectious for the players around him and with the staff look forward to enhancing those skills further."
