JOE Tapine has had a big year for the Raiders, establishing himself as one of the best forwards in the competition.

Raiders fans have recognised Tapine as one of the competition’s premier big men for some time but, unlike many parochial fanbases who think their favourite players are the best in the comp, the Kiwi international has the numbers to show why he deserves to be recognised in the top tier of the NRL’s talent.

Tapine made a habit of churning out huge metres for Ricky Stuart’s side throughout the 2022 season.

He finished the season in the top three players with most running metres averaging a whopping 165 per game, behind fullbacks James Tedesco and Dylan Edwards.

No other player in the competition made more ground after being tackled with Tapine gaining an extra 1731 post-contact metres during the season, while his 47 offloads were the second most in the competition.

His dominant, individual season saw him win his first Meninga Medal as the Raiders’ player of the year, polling 44 votes across the year, 22 more than his nearest rival. 

While his ground-breaking season wasn’t enough to get the Raiders a premiership, he did finish it on a high when he was recognised at last month’s Dally M Medal award, taking home one of the Prop of the Year awards to solidify his standing in the game.

The Raiders also know how good he is, which is why they recently re-signed him on a new deal, which will keep him in green until the end of the 2027 season.

Tapine was already contracted with the club for 2023, with the four-year extension seeing him locked into Canberra for the next five seasons.

Tapine has played 145 matches for the Raiders since joining in 2016 and his new deal is set to see him become one of the most capped players in club history. He hopes that locking away his future long term will encourage more of his teammates to do the same.

“I want to be a leader and bring in the team players here that want to play here,” said Tapine.

“I remember having a conversation with Ricky [Stuart, Raiders coach] where he said: ‘You’ll play 250 for this club’ and that is one of my goals – I want to try and play as many games as I can for the club.”

While his season in green is finished, there is more football on the horizon for Tapine as he links up with NZ for the upcoming World Cup.

It will be a good way to finish what has been the best season of his career to date.

“It has been good to see a lot of hard work pay off and to get recognition for it,” said Tapine.

“It is all about being consistent and backing it up next year and the year after that so I am looking forward to the challenge and growing.”

Tapine also achieved another milestone this season when he had the opportunity to captain the club for the first time in the Raiders round 25 demolition of the Wests Tigers to secure a finals position.

That leadership role is something he wants to continue and expand on as he extends his tenure at the club.

“I have always wanted to be a leader here,” said Tapine.

“I’ll still grow off the leadership group, there are still senior players ahead of me and I’ll just push my way and get to the top.

“I have changed dramatically as a person and a player since I moved down here and I wouldn’t have told you that I would be a leader back in 2016.

“To be in the position I am in now is very humbling.”

“I have had a lot of opportunities in Canberra to grow and have been able to put that into the leadership group – I have pushed to be a better person and a better player and that has helped me and helped my character.”

Tapine will now travel to the UK with the NZ international team for the Rugby League World Cup. The Kiwis play their first match in Warrington on October 16 and Tapine will be keen to help the side improve on their quarter final exit in 2017.

“Our Kiwi squad is really strong, I think we need to keep building on the things we have been doing for the last couple of years,” said Tapine.

“[Coach] Michael McGuire talked about how we have been building for this World Cup for the last three or four years and it is finally getting close – now we just need to do our thing.”