That thoughtful, laidback, family man with the mullet will transform into the Canberra Raiders' enforcer when he returns to the SCG to take on the Sydney Roosters in the NRL semi-final on Friday night.

He's hoping he can recreate his Incredible Hulk-like try from his last visit to the historic ground, where he put the Green Machine on his back and said, "Come with me boys".

But this time he was giving an acceptance speech for his third Mal Meninga Medal in a row.

It probably went unnoticed - his little saying in Samoan as he joined Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton to accept the award.

But it spoke volumes about exactly what makes "Papa" tick.

"I just said, 'All glory to God'. Being a Christian myself and Samoan I thought it was very important to just get in with my heritage," Papalii said.

"I knew my mum would probably be watching back in Brissie. They're just little things that my parents taught me when I was younger and I just thought I'd keep it going."

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Papalii's try at the SCG fired the Green Machine to victory - meaning they're one of only three teams to beat the Roosters there in the past two years.

The Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs are the other two.

His run straight through the middle of the Bondi Princes' defence was also the last time he crossed the stripe this season.

But the 28-year-old has made a habit of scoring important tries in big games and he was keen to return to the scoresheet.

"Hopefully, I haven't scored a meat pie for a while. It would be nice to get over the white line again," Papalii said.

"But in saying that, these are the games that we turn up for. Playing the Roosters again - I think it's one apiece at the moment - grand final rematch.

"We definitely know we're in for a tough one on Friday. Definitely looking forward to the challenge."

Part of Papalii's get up will be his personalised budgy smugglers, which have immortalised his amazing ankle tap on Gold Coast halfback Jamal Fogarty a couple of months ago.

Even some of his teammates were wearing them when they knocked off the Cronulla Sharks in the elimination final last weekend.

But the big prop stopped short of labelling them a secret weapon as the Raiders look to get to a preliminary final against the Storm at Suncorp Stadium next weekend.

"There was a few of the budgy's getting around. That was pretty good to see," Papalii said.

"To have a set of budgy's with your face on it is pretty cool."

NRL SEMI-FINAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at the SCG, 7.50pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Semi Valemei 3. Jarrod Croker (c) 4. Jordan Rapana 5. Nick Cotric 6. Jack Wighton 7. George Williams 8. Josh Papalii 9. Tom Starling 10. Sia Soliola 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Siliva Havili 15. Dunamis Lui 16. Hudson Young 17. Corey Harawira-Naera. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams 19. Matt Timoko 20. Kai O'Donnell 21. Michael Oldfield.

Roosters squad: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Josh Morris 4. Joseph Manu 5. Brett Morris 6. Luke Keary 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Angus Crichton 13. Isaac Liu. Interchange: 14. Lindsay Collins 15. Sitili Tupouniua 16. Mitchell Aubusson 17. Sonny Bill Williams. Reserves: 18. Nat Butcher 19. Daniel Fifita 20. Matt Ikuvalu 21. Lachlan Lam.