Raiders second rower and Queensland representative, Josh Papalii, is looking to get back to winning ways when the Raiders travel to Bathurst to take on the Panthers this Saturday.
Just days after the Queensland team went down in the one-sided affair, he then backed up to play in the Raiders side which suffered a golden point loss to the Sea Eagles at Lottoland.
Reflecting on the two matches, Papalii admitted that the two losses were hard for him to take.
“Personally, I don’t take losses that well,” Papalii said. “Wednesday’s loss was pretty hard to take then coming back to play for Canberra, hoping to put in a good performance and just falling short is pretty hard to swallow.”
During the game on Sunday, the team was dealt a double blow with Shannon Boyd being taken from the field with a knee injury before Dunamis Lui sufferred a season ending ACL injury.
With the Raiders down to 15 men, there was no chance of the second rower getting a rest despite having played only four days earlier.
“Those were pretty big losses for us, and you could see Manly strolling through the middle with their absence,” Papalii said. “Hopefully Shannon will be available for us this week as he has been one of the best forwards over the start of the season. It will hurt us a lot but we have players who have had NRL experience ready to come in and cover him if needed.”
Papalii’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates and halfback Aidan Sezer was particularly impressed by the Queenslander’s efforts.
“That’s why he’s an Origin player,” Sezer said. “Papa is a tough character and the boys look up to him as one of the leaders in the team.
“He put up his hand and said that he was battered and bruised but he would be more than happy to play, which really says a lot about his fortitude.”
Check out the best training images as the Raiders prepare for their clash against the Panthers in Bathurst.
