Canberra Raiders' most-capped player and Raider #300 Josh Papalii has announced his retirement from rugby league, ahead of his final home game at GIO Stadium Canberra this Friday night.
Papalii will make his 341st appearance for the club on Friday night and his last in front of his adoring home crowd in Canberra, with Papalii announcing at a media conference today that he will be retiring from professional rugby league.
All up, he’s played 157 of his 340 matches at GIO Stadium Canberra and has scored 67 tries across his NRL career spanning 16 seasons.
To celebrate his wonderful NRL career, the Raiders will be naming GIO Stadium Canberra “Papa’s House” on Friday night, to recognise the contribution and commitment Josh has shown to the green jersey since making his debut in 2011.
In a fitting tribute today, and as part of the Telstra Together Round, a mural was unveiled at GIO Stadium Canberra of Papalii scoring his most memorable try, when he crashed over at the Southern end of the ground in 2019 to send the Raiders to their first Grand Final since 1994.
The mural was commissioned through Telstra and developed in partnership with the Raiders and GIO Stadium Canberra, to celebrate the Raiders most iconic moment in the 25 years of the Telstra Premiership.
It kicks off a big week of celebrations to recognise Papalii, with Friday night’s game day a running tribute to one of the best players to have ever played for the club.
Head to our hub, Papa's House to find out what’s planned and how you can be part of the experience.
