From the heart: Family and fitness driving Papalii's Raiders resurgence

Because his old man Patrick, he's been doing it "pretty tough, man".

His dad's heart problems were never far from Papalii's mind when he was lacing up his boots to play for the Canberra Raiders. There were nervous moments, times Papalii could feel the weight of his father's struggles on his shoulders.

Which is why it means so much to the Raiders prop when he sees his dad back in Canberra, playing with his grandkids again.

"I think he's booked in to get a defibrillator or a pacemaker," Papalii said.

"The old man probably just needs to calm down on the cold ones and give it a little rest. He's doing a lot better, and it was just awesome to get him down and see him with the grandkids. That puts a massive smile on my face.

"It's just good to see my dad healthier. He was struggling there for a bit, so very happy at the moment. He's just got a few heart problems over the past couple of years. Just to see a smile on his face and him being able to fly around makes me very happy."

Now, back to those fitness drills.

Joe Tapine reckons Papalii - a 284-game veteran who could become the third Raider to reach 300 matches for the club - is as fit as he's ever seen him.

The word is Papalii dropped eight kilograms during the off-season after undergoing surgery on a torn biceps tendon.

So just how heavy did he get?

"Now that's confidential. Heavy bro, I was heavy. Let's just say my knees were sore when I was frigging walking," Papalii said.

"It's good though, it's just good to be light. I've given myself every chance to play some good footy, which is nice for a change.

"After my surgery, they kept putting in the group chat the weights I was getting to after surgery. I just lost all that shit weight. I'm just more of a healthier 116, 117kg at the moment. Last year I got down to 118 but I was drained and just unhappy.

"I think everyone is saying I'm pretty fit but I'm still coming last in fitness, so I don't know how fit they're expecting me to be. I feel good man, I'm just happy away from footy. When my family is happy, I'm happy. I feel like that's when I play my best footy."

The 31-year-old is off-contract at the end of this season and has an option for an extra year - which is activated if he plays 75 per cent of games across the 2023-24 NRL seasons.

Papalii wants his future sorted and will be open to talking to rival clubs as well as the Raiders, having shown he can still be one of the game's most destructive players.

But he is adamant his main priority is helping Canberra back to the finals as the Raiders prepare to host the Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

"I'll probably have to start talking to the club or talk to other clubs. I'm just focused on this year and hopefully getting back to some good footy for the Raiders fans," Papalii said.

"I honestly reckon we'll go better than last year. We only just scraped through last year and almost won in the first week of the finals.

"We probably shouldn't have been there last year in the first place, but we just have a knack of winning games when we have to, grinding a few teams out.

"That's what I love about being in Canberra, no one ever gives us a chance."