"The best looking prop in the competition, he's a good looking dude and he plays fancy," the Canberra Raiders enforcer grinned.

But Tapine is wearing a Raiders jersey, partnering Papalii in the Green Machine's engine room against the Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

"I'm looking forward to starting with Taps and hopefully we can be that one-two punch the Raiders need to get us back into grand final contention," Papalii said.

"He can switch it on if he has to so that's the reason why I like Taps. You just know he's always got your back."

MORE RUGBY LEAGUE

Tapine's determination to flick the switch is clear. The 27-year-old heard questions about his form last year, doubts about his ability to realise his potential.

So the New Zealand international stripped weight off his hulking frame and the move paid dividends with a breakout performance for the Maori All Stars during the pre-season.

"I lost some weight, I'm down a couple of kilos. [There were] questions on my form I guess, people saying I wasn't performing last year and that burns a bit of a fire in my belly trying to prove people wrong," Tapine said.

"It gives me that fuel to show them that I am a good player, consistent and I can do what I can do. Me and Paps want to take a big role and be in the middle.

"We've got a great line-up of middles, especially with Corey Horsburgh and all the young boys coming through. We've just got to make sure we keep that form and lead from the front.

"I'd prefer me and Paps just starting. I want to build on our combination. If we want to be a successful team at the end of the year we need to build that combination early and just ride with that."

Nipping at their heels are the likes of Horsburgh, Emre Guler, Adam Elliott and Ryan Sutton. Papalii runs through that list and sees players who can start in the middle or on an edge at will.

But Papalii and Tapine have added another weapon to their arsenal in the hope of turning Canberra into a premiership force once more - these two are ball-playing big boppers.

Passing drills have been high on the agenda at the Raiders' Braddon headquarters during the off-season with coach Ricky Stuart determined to use every weapon at his disposal to take advantage of tiring defensive lines.

"Imagine having Paps running and you try and tackle him and he just tips it to someone else. There's two things to worry about instead of the one. It's a good add on for us," Tapine said.

"It's been exciting. We're getting little tips on. We've done a lot of passing drills in the off-season. Feel way more confident shifting the ball, especially in the middles. It's been a key add to our team."

Papalii admits the passing licence might get tossed away if things go awry, but that won't stop the Raiders from chancing their arm against Cronulla.

"It's only going to make our team better. We're forwards that can actually pass the ball. I'm pretty sure if he came here and saw props that can't pass I'm pretty sure the licence would be quickly taken," Papalii said.

"But we're a team that can actually move the ball around, offload and probably hold off the kicking. Passing is probably something our team is capable of doing and there's no harm in chancing our arm."

NRL ROUND ONE

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium, 6pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. James Schiller, 4. Matt Timoko, 5. Semi Valemei, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead (C). Bench: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh, 18. Ryan Sutton, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Trey Mooney, 21. Harry Rushton, 22. Jarrod Croker, 23. Xavier Savage, 24. Sam Williams.

Sharks squad: 1. Will Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Matt Moylan, 7. Nicho Hynes, 8. Toby Rudolf, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Dale Finucane (C). Bench: 14. Aiden Tolman, 15. Siosifa Talakai, 16. Royce Hunt, 17. Andrew Fifita, 18. Luke Metcalf, 19. Jesse Colquhoun, 20. Lachlan Miller, 21. Jensen Taumoepeau, 22. Jayden Berrell, 23. Jonaiah Lualua, 24. Thomas Hazelton.

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