Joe Tapine to step up as leader of the Canberra Raiders pack

The leader of the Canberra Raiders pack will simply do what he always does - and try to knock down the Sydney Roosters' front door.

With Raiders enforcer Josh Papalii away on Queensland State of Origin duties, that leaves the in-form Tapine to lead the Green Machine against the Princes of Bondi at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

Tapine's averaging 149 run metres per game this season, but belted out more than 200m in two of his past four encounters - against Canterbury and Parramatta.

It's his biggest output in his nine-year NRL career to fully establish himself as an elite prop.

Tapine put it down to adding additional consistency to his game, as well as putting more of an onus on his own performances.

He'll be crucial as Canberra look to cover Papalii's absence, especially against a Roosters pack that boasts Tapine's countryman Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Not just with his powerful running game, Tapine also wants to lift his output as a leader.

It's something he's been working on in recent years - including captaining the Maori All Stars in the NRL All Stars game.

He felt that was especially important with Raiders debutant Trey Mooney set to join him in the middle.

"You've got Jared in the front, he's an experienced campaigner," Tapine said.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge, but we've just got to stay calm and play our game - and try to knock down the front door.

"I have to be a bit more of a voice on the field, lead a bit more especially with Trey coming in. Just letting him find that groove of the game.

"I try to lead with actions, but over the last couple of years I've found my voice as well."

But it's not just Tapine that will add their voice to the Green Machine.

Tapine felt the inclusion of Matt Frawley in the halves in the absence of Jack Wighton, who will play in the centres for NSW, also brought a vocal direction.

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That's on top of ever-chatty halfback Jamal Fogarty, who Tapine felt would benefit from his first game of the season following the knee injury that delayed his Raiders debut.

"It'll be different without Jack, but I feel like Frawley's voice and calmness in games will be good as well," Tapine said.

"Even though it's a big loss I'm looking forward to see how Frawls goes. He's always calm out there.

"[It was the] first game back [for Fogarty], it'll take a couple of games to get into it.

"Jama, his talk's the best in our team. You can't stop him sometimes. But that's what he brings to the team and I'm looking forward to seeing that progress."

NRL ROUND 13

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 4pm.

Raiders squad: 1. Xavier Savage, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Sebastian Kris, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Matt Frawley, 7. Jamal Fogarty, 8. Corey Horsburgh, 9. Zac Woolford, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead (c), 13. Adam Elliott. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Corey Harawira-Naera, 17. Trey Mooney. Reserves: 18. James Schiller 19. Harry Rushton, 20. Adrian Trevilyan, 21. Brad Schneider.

Roosters squad: 1. Joseph Manu, 2. Billy Smith, 3. Paul Momirovski, 4. Kevin Naiqama, 5. Joseph Suaalii, 6. Sam Walker, 7. Luke Keary, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Drew Hutchison, 10. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Sitili Tupouniua, 13. Nat Butcher. Interchange: 14. Connor Watson, 15. Fletcher Baker, 16. Egan Butcher, 17. Terrell May. Reserves: 18. Lachlan Lam, 19. Daniel Suluka-Fifita, 20. Adam Keighran, 21. Tom Carr, 22. Ben Marschke.

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