On the back of his first season without representative football for over a decade, Josh Papali'i has returned to Raiders training feeling refreshed ahead of his 14th season in the NRL.
The 31-year-old's retirement from the Origin arena after 23 appearances for the Maroons, coupled with missing the end-of-year Pacific Championships due to surgery on a biceps injury, meant Papali'i played just 18 games last season, the fewest since his rookie year back in 2011.
"It's something my body needed," Papali'i told NRL.com.
"Playing 10 years of Origin and then international games as well, that does take a toll. At the beginning of last year it felt like it all caught up to me, with my calf injury at the start and then...