NRL 2021: Bargain buy Isaiah Papali’i rediscovers his spark at Parramatta Eels

He burst onto the NRL scene as one of the Warriors’ brightest prospects, but a low-ball contract offer drove Isaiah Papali’i out of the club and off to Parramatta.

DAILY TELEGRAPH - Pictured at the Eels HQ in Belleville today is Parramatta Eels forward Isaiah Papali'i. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Aged 12, Isaiah Papali’i was handed a stick. Which isn’t what he wanted.

No, what he wanted standing there inside the Wellington garage of his uncle Jan, for the next three years his makeshift home gym, was a barbell, weights and a few pointers from this relative who now heads up, locally, some new craze called CrossFit.

But load the kid up? Uncle Jan wasn’t having that.

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Which is why for weeks, then months, he slowly worked his nephew through those myriad lifting techniques that, by 15, would help him win two gold medals at the Oceania Powerlifting Championships.

“And all of it,” Papali’i says, “using that stick”.

Isaiah Papali'i has become a cult figure at the Eels this season. Picture: Tim Hunter.

It’s a memory which even 10 years on immediately makes Parramatta’s newest cult figure smile. Indeed, for a guy losing $200,000 just to play rugby league this year, Papali’i still smiles plenty.

Which isn’t to say he doesn’t understand what has been lost.

He does. But worry?

“I’ve never been a guy who cares much about money,” the Aucklander shrugs. “Plus my value as a player, I know it’s going back up eventually.

“It’s just that I’m starting again from the bottom.”

Kicked back now on a lounge inside Parramatta HQ, with his beanie working overtime to contain a mop of black curly hair, Papali’i is once more that kid holding a stick.

Aged 22, and starting over. Which after only eight NRL rounds, is already paying dividends.

With new Eels No.11 not only second among all forwards for tries, tackle busts and try assists, or eighth overall for average run metres, but an overnight Blue and Gold cult figure.

Which is some story.

Especially given this is the same Warriors wonder boy who, only three winters ago, wasn’t simply making his debut in the NRL at 18, or winning Rookie of the Year gongs, but representing Samoa, then New Zealand, before inking a two-year deal which last winter resulted in him earning $350,000.

A fella who then crashed so spectacularly, his last Warriors offer was for $150,000.

“Which I was told take or leave,” he shrugs. “So I decided to start over.”

Only problem? Nobody wanted him. Or almost no one.

“There was some talk here and there,” the backrower admits. “But Parramatta was my only offer.”

Isaiah Papali'i made a big impression for the Warriors in his debut year, but then his form tapered off. Picture: AAP Image/Craig Golding

Which again, makes him that kid with the stick.

Or maybe we tell you how, for the past four years, Papali’i has also been continuing a long-distance relationship with Elle Temu, that high school sweetheart who doubles as a professional netballer with Northern Stars.

Know too that, aged 15, this newest Eel was also tackled so awkwardly playing schoolboy rugby that he not only broke a leg, or dislocated an ankle, but was then forced to hobble his way into a meeting with Brisbane Broncos officials — who were, initially, keen to sign him — midway through a seven-month recovery that required learning to run again.

“So they looked at my ankle,” Papali’i concedes. “And that was it.”

Which was for a time, he says, was “scary”. More than once too he “broke down emotionally”. Still, the teen overcame exactly as you’d expect someone fighting ever since his first game of footy.

Back when aged 10, and playing for Richmond Rovers, his initial training displays were so grim the coach was reluctant to play him.

“So at halftime,” he grins, “mum came over.”

Isaiah Papali'i has taken his game to a new level this season. Picture: Matt Blyth/Getty Images

Now by mum, he means Lorina Papali’i. That duel international who, apart from winning two World Cups and once being rated New Zealand’s greatest female leaguie, also came out of retirement at 41 to represent the Warriors’ inaugural NRLW side.

So after a brief chat, you better believe coach put little Isaiah on.

“But still, I was terrible,” he laughs. “Thought I’d be going back to soccer.”

Yet after a home video of said debut made its way around the family, this hopeless schoolboy became the project of an older cousin, William, who spent two years teaching fitness, defensive technique, everything.

Then, passed him on to Uncle Jan, who in turn produced the stick. All of which has us wondering how a fella raised in nothing but grind would eventually crash so badly with the Warriors?

“Making the NRL at 18, it definitely wasn’t easy,” Papali’i says. “If anything, I pushed so hard to make first grade that after finally getting there I thought I could take a breath. But you can’t. Being happy to just make the NRL, I plateaued.

Isaiah Papali'i is providing great value for money for the Eels. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

“It got to a point where I was having no impact on games. Or I’d go missing. Away from footy, I wasn’t the best I could be, either. My nutrition wasn’t great, so I was struggling to keep up in games. My onfield discipline was bad, too.

“Just little things, shortcuts, that would see me penalised and hurt the team.

“Eventually it got to a point where I wasn’t thinking about what I could do in games, but instead saying ‘OK, don’t do this or you’ll get in trouble’. I got scared to do things.

“Now I know it’s not just about the work you put in when everyone is looking.”

Which is why this newest Eels cult figure is now stretching more than ever before.

He is also eating better, studying athletic mobility online, even arriving for video sessions armed with a notepad and pen.

“And being young, I’m always learning,” he says.

Once more, that kid with the stick.