Canberra Raiders NRL News

Billy Slater considers bringing Josh Papalii out of retirement and praises Gehamat Shibasaki's rise for inspiration.

The Daily Telegraph

Billy Slater contemplated calling Canberra warhorse Josh Papalii out of Origin retirement for two years and says Broncos bolter Gehamat Shibasaki's stunning rise to the Maroons should inspire Queensland.

Slater dropped two selection bombshells on Monday ahead of next Wednesday's State of Origin series decider in Sydney.

With the series on the line and the Maroons staring down the barrel of back-to-back series defeats, Slater has issued Raiders enforcer Papalii an 'SOS' to start in the front row against Blues star Payne Haas and inject a hard edge into Queensland.

He also made one of...

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Billy Slater recalls veteran Josh Papali'i for the Maroons, replacing Mo Fotuaika in the squad.

Wide World of Sports

Billy Slater said recalling veteran Josh Papali'i to the Maroons side had been in the back of his mind for a couple of years.

Having retired from representative footy in 2023, the Raiders enforcer was handed an Origin recall for the series decider in Sydney next week, replacing Mo Fotuaika in the squad.

Papali'i is reportedly closing in on a Super League deal for next year.

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Josh Papali'i returns to Queensland after a three-year retirement, rejoining for a crucial game.

The Canberra Times

Josh Papali'i is officially back in the Queensland side, ending his three-year representative retirement to make a comeback in what will be one of the biggest games of his career.

Papali'i retired from Origin footy before the 2023 season after 23 matches for Queensland and six series wins. Now he will play his first game for the Maroons since 2022 in a memorable comeback off the back of the Raiders' ladder-topping NRL rise.

"He's been doing a great job there," Maroons coach Billy Slater said on Monday morning.

"It's probably something that I've had in the back of my mind for a couple of years - in particular this year the way that Big Papa...

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