Joe Tapine has been building to this moment for years.
When he signed a four-year extension with the Canberra Raiders in 2022, the New Zealand enforcer turned down bigger money offers elsewhere to stay with the club he loves.
At the time he said he one day hoped to become captain.
With departing skipper Elliott Whitehead suspended from Canberra’s season-ending clash with St George Illawarra on Saturday, Tapine will be handed the captaincy.
The 30-year-old thinks he is now ready to hold on to it on a permanent basis.
“I’ve been taking the last couple years behind Elliott, learning bits and pieces from what he does as captain and putting it into my game, but I’ve still got a lot to learn,” Tapine said.
“I’ll be very open-minded on my learning process in the next year or two.”
The mobile prop forward has been one of the Raiders’ most consistent players in recent years, winning the Meninga Medal for the club’s best player two seasons running. And he’s a good chance of winning it this year as well.
But one aspect of his leadership he thinks still needs improving is the way he talks to referees.
Tapine was given a yellow card by referee Grant Atkins for dissent in the Raiders’ 46-24 loss to Manly in August after a disagreement over a tackle on halfback Jamal Fogarty.
“It’s just the competitiveness I think, but I’ll have to change a bit on that,” he said.
That’s something he can learn from captain Whitehead, who is a constant fixture in the ref’s earpiece.
Another senior member of the Canberra forward pack who will be looking to step up in Whitehead’s absence is Hudson Young, also considered a potential future captain.
He hit back at Sydney coach Trent Robinson, who accused Whitehead of a history of hip-drop tackles after a tackle on Roosters hooker Brandon Smith injured his knee and ruled him out of the rest of the season.
“There’s things in the game that you can’t control and sometimes accidents happen,” Young said.
“I don’t think Elliott’s a dirty player at all. I think he’s probably one of the toughest players I’ve seen play or play with.
“So yeah, I’m not too sure where that’s come from. It seems you get suspended once, and then you get labelled that.”
