Josh Papalii goes the extra yards on day off

Mateship and loyalty. These are the two driving forces behind Canberra’s push for a premiership, as this photo proves.

Josh Papalii (hoodie) as a water boy on his day off this week.

This is the photo that illustrates a mateship and bond that has been described as the driving force behind the Raiders’ charge towards their first premiership in 25 years.

On an official day off for the NRL squad last Monday, Canberra’s player of the year Josh Papalii turned up anyway — as the water boy.

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Josh Papalii (hoodie) as a water boy on his day off this week.

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Wearing his hoodie and casual shorts, the Dally M prop of the year contender ran the water during a training session for 14 of the club’s fringe players.

The extended squad members’ efforts during the hour-long conditioning session also speaks volumes about the Raiders culture that exists from the starting 17 players down to player No.30 on Ricky Stuart’s list.

Josh Papalii (hoodie) at Canberra Raiders training this week as water boy — on his day off.

Because in reality, with feeder-club Mounties out of the Canterbury Cup finals race, the likes of pictured players Brendan O’Hagan and Tony Satini are only training in the unlikely scenario of being called up by Stuart over the next two weeks.

The NRL squad trained in Canberra on Friday night — a deliberate ploy to simulate the conditions of their preliminary final in five days’ time.

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