NRL grand final: Canberra Raiders signed Josh Papalii from Logan for $200-a-week
Josh Papalii was identified as a talent early and the Brisbane Broncos were favourites to sign him, but the Canberra Raiders had other plans and poached him on a $200-a-week contract in one of the greatest bargain buys in NRL history.
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Queensland Origin hitman Josh Papalii rejected a chance to play for the Broncos after being poached by Canberra on a $200-a-week contract in one of the greatest bargain buys in NRL history.
The Courier-Mail can reveal the extraordinary cut-price contact that broke Brisbane’s hearts and delivered Papalii to the Raiders in his journey to a maiden grand-final appearance against the Roosters on Sunday night at ANZ Stadium.
As a 13-year-old, Papalii was one of the most promising talents in Brisbane’s nursery and had been identified as a future Queensland Origin star, with two clubs – the Broncos and Canberra – vying for his signature.
As the richest club in the league, the Broncos had unmatched resources and rarely lost out in the battle for schoolboy talent, especially with then super coach Wayne Bennett on Brisbane’s books.
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But the Raiders had a trump card in their Brisbane-based recruitment chief Brian Edwards, who set up operations at Papalii’s junior club Logan and had cultivated a strong connection with the young gun’s family.
The first NRL scout to watch Papalii play, Edwards secured the rookie wrecking ball to a $10,400 scholarship – an investment that will pay handsome dividends if the Canberra prop inspires a Raiders premiership on Sunday night.
“Some kids get massive deals today but there was no big pay day for Josh initially,” said Edwards, who ironically quit Canberra in 2013 to head-up the Broncos’ new Logan Academy.
“At the time, the Broncos were keen. They were aware of Josh’s ability and it was basically only two parties look at him, the Broncos and Canberra.
“Thankfully, ‘Papa’ went with the Raiders. I remember his living-away-from-home allowance was $200 a week to go to Canberra.
“This is not a criticism of the Broncos but I was based specifically in Logan working for the Raiders and that made it easier for us to have regular contact with Josh.
“We had Canberra talent camps in the Brisbane region and Josh had been placed in that.
“The Raiders liked what they saw from the word go in Josh and put some good resources into him which he appreciated and that loyalty convinced him to choose Canberra over the Broncos.
“Now that I’m with the Broncos, I wished I’d got beaten. But that says a lot about Josh’s personality. He could have stayed home and played for the Broncos for more money, but he appreciated what the Raiders did for him.”
Papalii’s career-best form this season – 18 months after being dropped to reserve grade by coach Ricky Stuart – is no fluke.
His first representative coach, former Queensland under-18s mentor Jon Buchanan, was shocked to bump into Papalii at Logan Brothers just weeks before Christmas last year.
“I got out of my car and said, ‘What on earth are you doing here’,” Buchanan recalled.
“He said, ‘I’m doing some extras’.
“It was the middle of summer and there was no-one else around. I watched him for 30 minutes and he was smashing himself sprinting up and down the field.
“That shows how dedicated Josh was to improving himself. Getting dropped by Ricky was a good kick in the backside to turn his career around.”
Originally published as NRL grand final: Canberra Raiders signed Josh Papalii from Logan for $200-a-week