NRL 2022: Canberra Raiders must win battle to keep Joseph Tapine after finals exit
The Raiders’ season ended in a record finals defeat for the club, but their next big battle — to retain their best player in 2022 — is one they simply can’t afford to lose.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Raiders lost the game, but must win the war to keep Joseph Tapine.
That now becomes Canberra’s must-win focus after bowing out for season 2022, losing no admirers in the process.
No, this isn’t how Canberra wished for their season to end.
Blown off the park by an electric opening 40-minutes by the Eels, down 22-4 at the break.
The Raiders let an opportunity slip.
What they now can’t let nosedive is what was built this year, which included fighting back without English International and club leader Josh Hodgson (torn ACL), waiting 12 rounds before halfback Jamal Fogarty could get on the field and of course, the stunning form of Tapine.
The Raiders can’t let the off-contract Kiwi Test forward go to the World Cup without locking him down to a long-term deal.
Of the top seven players for most post-contact metres on Friday night, the only Raider on the list was Tapine.
Currently sitting on $750,000 per season, Tapine is on the radar of rival clubs, leading to the question of whether he is worth $1 million — the figure that Broncos and Test prop Payne Haas has been chasing.
Off-contract at the end of 2023, the Raiders want to take Tapine off the open market before he’s allowed to broker deals with rival clubs from November 1.
In response and knowing that he’s in devastating form that equates to a rise in salary every week that he played, Tapine went public last week about his desire to only worry about his future once the Raiders finals charge was over.
That process for the Raiders must begin on Saturday.
Canberra’s Player of The Year in 2022, Tapine is pivotal to the Raiders resurgence as a finals footy team and at the same time, key to them staying there.
With Josh Papalii, 30, off-contract at the end of 2024, the Raiders can’t afford to lose both their starting props over the next two seasons.
The Raiders will now review their season with both pride and frustration.
Once the pain of Friday night’s loss subsides, the exciting development of fullback Xavier Savage, hooker Tom Starling and powerful edge backrower Hudson Young will be circled as highlights.
What will disappoint is that the Green Machine had arrived at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium by bus with their bags packed full of belief.
Ending the year of one of Australia’s most successful sporting clubs in the Melbourne Storm does that to a team.
But confidence doesn’t mean much when you produce 29 missed tackles in the opening half.
The scoreboard rarely ticks over when you boast just 39 per cent possession in one half of football.
The Raiders lost no friends in 2022.
But what matters most is that they don’t lose Tapine.
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2022: Canberra Raiders must win battle to keep Joseph Tapine after finals exit
Parramatta legend: ‘24 Panthers don’t have a hope against ‘83 Eels
Penrith have claimed their place in the rugby league record books, but Parramatta great Ray Price has rejected suggestions they’ve gone past his Eels, claiming they had “every position and we every tactic covered”. WHO IS BETTER? VOTE NOW.
Gus’ ‘doctored’ claim ignites NRL conspiracy
The NRL Grand Final’s controversial no try scandal has taken a wild turn despite the game releasing the angle the decision was based on.