Joe Tapine loves living life on the edge. He feels he has more freedom to back himself, he doesn't get so banged up, and "you get to run at halves, not at props".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tapine has been a shining light during a forgettable year for the Canberra Raiders, riddled with close losses he describes as ones that "build character" rather than breaking the Green Machine down.
Their season is over but the New Zealand international is adamant the Raiders have plenty to play for when they face the high-flying Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
The 24-year-old has become a regular starter this season, having emerged as a back-rower to be reckoned with since returning to the position he called home during his time in Newcastle.
"Moving on through the years I just want to become a better player," Tapine said.
"The coaching and the players around me are really helping me out with that. It’s sorting all my off-field stuff out too.
"I like back-row now, not going to lie. The middle is a tough gig, I get bruised up in there and I get a bit more of a rest out on the edges and get a couple more touches of the ball as well, so I don’t mind the back-row now."
Tapine and Sia Soliola put in 80-minute shifts in the second row during Canberra's heartbreaking two-point loss to the Wests Tigers last weekend, leaving young gun Jack Murchie stranded on the bench.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart is confident Murchie can handle the rigours of NRL football but felt there was no need to replace Tapine and Soliola during their impressive showings.
"Jack’s going good, I just walked past him and just apologised for not getting him on on the weekend," Stuart said.
"It was just one of those games on the weekend that went down to the wire and we just didn’t need him. He’s a back-rower and both back-rowers were going okay so I didn’t need him."
High-profile trio Junior Paulo, Shannon Boyd and Blake Austin will leave Canberra at the end of the season and the playing group is desperate to send them out on a high, with home stretch doubling as a chance to build towards 2019.
"Junior’s my roomie so he means a lot and I want him to experience some wins," Tapine said.
"Boydy, he’s a character too. Even Austy, they all mean a lot to us off the field so we want to give them something on the field. That’s why we’re going to be working hard over the next three weeks, to try and get the wins.
"Those tough losses build character. We’ve just got to keep chipping away at it and keep going.
"It’s a tough three weeks we’ve got left. We’ve got a lot of boys leaving next year so we want to send them out good and give our fans some wins.
"Canberra is a big rugby league community so we’ve got to bring some pride to the town. We’ve still got next year so we’ve got to build into that. We’ll just work hard for the next couple of weeks until the season is over."
NRL ROUND 23
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 4.10pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
