Joseph Tapine (pronounced /tæpin/; TAP-in-ay) (born 4 May 1994) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a prop or lock for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL), and for New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level.

Joseph Tapine
Personal information
Born (1994-05-04) 4 May 1994 (age 30)
Wellington, New Zealand
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Lock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–15 Newcastle Knights 20 1 0 0 4
2016– Canberra Raiders 193 24 0 0 96
Total 213 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–23 New Zealand 18 2 0 0 8
2019–24 Māori All Stars 4 2 0 0 8
Source: [1][2]
As of 7 September 2024

Tapine previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Background

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Tapine was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and is of Māori descent.

Tapine played his junior rugby league for the Harbour City Eagles. He then joined the Wellington Orcas in the New Zealand Rugby League National Competition.[citation needed]

Playing career

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Early career

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In 2013, Tapine joined the Newcastle Knights on a 1-year contract before re-signing for a further 3 years during the year.[3] He played for the Knights' NYC team in 2013 and 2014.[4] On 13 October 2013, Tapine played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, starting at second-row in the 38-26 loss at WIN Stadium.[5]

2014

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In Round 9 of the 2014 NRL season, Tapine made his NRL debut for the Newcastle Knights against the Penrith Panthers, playing off the interchange bench in the 32-10 loss at Hunter Stadium.[6][7] Tapine finished off his debut year in the NRL with him playing in 7 matches for the Knights.[8] On 2 September 2014, Tapine was named on the interchange bench in the 2014 NYC Team of the Year.[9] On 18 October 2014, Tapine again played for the Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos, starting at second-row in the 15-14 win at Mt Smart Stadium.[10][11][12] On 24 November 2014, Tapine was charged with occasioning grievous bodily harm following an incident in September 2014 which left another man with a broken jaw.[13]

2015

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On 23 June 2015, Tapine had assault charges dropped after a magistrate found prosecutors could not prove he was not acting in self-defence.[14] In Round 22 against the Sydney Roosters, Tapine scored his first NRL career try in the 38-22 loss at Hunter Stadium.[15] Tapine improved on his previous season, playing in 13 matches and scoring 1 try in the 2015 NRL season.[16]

 
Tapine playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NSW Cup

On 27 September 2015, Tapine played in the Knights' 2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final against the Wyong Roos in the 20-10 victory at Parramatta Stadium.[17][18]

2016

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On 11 February 2016, Tapine signed a 3-year contract with the Canberra Raiders starting in 2017.[19][20] After facing spending the year being banished from the Knights first grade squad to waste away in the NSW Cup, however, on 23 February 2017, the Knights agreed to release him from the remainder of his contract, freeing him to join the Raiders immediately.[21][22] In Round 3, Tapine made his club debut for the Canberra Raiders against the Newcastle Knights, playing off the interchange bench in the 24-24 all draw.[23][24] In Round 12 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Tapine scored his first and second club tries for the Raiders in the 32-20 win at Canberra Stadium.[25] Tapine finished the 2016 NRL season with him playing in 25 matches and scoring 4 tries in his first year with the Canberra Raiders. On 4 October 2016, Tapine was selected in the New Zealand Kiwis 24-man squad for the 2016 Four Nations.[26] On 11 November 2016, Tapine made his international debut for the New Zealand Kiwis against Scotland, playing off the interchange bench in the shock 18-18 all draw at Derwent Park.[27] Tapine played in 2 matches in the tournament including playing in the 2016 Four Nations Final match against Australia, off the interchange bench in the 34-8 loss at Anfield.[28]

2017

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Tapine finished the 2017 NRL season with him playing in 22 matches and scoring 3 tries for the Raiders.[29] Tapine was named in the New Zealand Kiwis 24-man squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[30] On 4 November, he scored his first international try for New Zealand against Scotland in the 74-6 smashing win at Christchurch Stadium.[31] Tapine played in all 4 matches and scored 1 try in the Kiwis shock disappointing campaign.

2018

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On 24 June 2018, Tapine played for New Zealand against England in the historical test match set in Denver, USA, starting at second-row in the 36-18 loss at Mile High Stadium.[32] Tapine played in 16 matches and scored 6 tries for the Raiders in the 2018 NRL season.[33] After being sidelined at the end of the year due to a broken thumb on 1 October 2018, Tapine was selected in the Kiwis 23-man squad for their tour of England and the test match against Australia.[34] Tapine played in 2 matches of the Baskerville Shield matches against England. On 24 October 2018, Tapine extended his contract with the Raiders for another 4-years, to the end of the 2023 season.[35]

2019

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On 15 February, Tapine represented the Maori All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2019 All Stars match, playing off the interchange bench in the 34-14 loss at AAMI Park.[36]

Tapine made a total of 17 appearances for Canberra as the club reached the grand final for the first time in 25 years. Tapine played at lock in the 2019 NRL Grand Final as Canberra were defeated by the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium.[37][38][39]

2020

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Tapine played 21 games and scored 4 tries in the 2020 NRL season. He played in all three of Canberra's finals games including the preliminary final loss against Melbourne.[40]

2021

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Tapine made a total of 19 appearances for Canberra in the 2021 NRL season. The club would finish the year in 10th place on the table and miss out on the finals.[41][42]

2022

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Tapine played a total of 25 matches for Canberra in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Tapine played in both finals matches as Canberra were eliminated in the second week by Parramatta.[43]

2023

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Tapine played a total of 24 matches for Canberra in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Tapine played in the clubs elimination finals loss against Newcastle.[44]

2024

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Tapine played 24 games for Canberra in the 2024 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table.[45]

Statistics

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Year Team Games Tries Pts
2014   Newcastle Knights 7
2015 13 1 4
2016   Canberra Raiders 25 4 16
2017 22 3 12
2018 16 6 24
2019 17 2 8
2020 21 4 16
2021 19 2 8
2022 25 2 8
2023 24 1 4
2024 24
Totals 213 25 100

References

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  1. ^ "Joseph Tapine - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Players". Love Rugby League. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Knights Insider - Wayne Bennett". newcastleknights.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  4. ^ "T". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Nine Warriors in Junior Kiwis squad". NRL.com. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ "NRL 2014 - Round 9". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  7. ^ "LATE MAIL: Knights v Panthers - Knights". newcastleknights.com.au. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Holden Cup Team Of The Year Announced". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  10. ^ "2014 JUNIOR KIWIS TEAM ANNOUNCED". Rugbyleagueweek.com.au. 10 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Junior Kiwis confirm line-up". Warriors.co.nz. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Umbraco 4.5.1 - no pages found". Nzrl.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 September 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  13. ^ Farquhar, Liz (26 November 2014). "Knights player Tapine on assault charge". ABC News.
  14. ^ "Assault charges dropped against Knights rookie Joseph Tapine". ABC News. 23 June 2015.
  15. ^ Toohey, Barry (9 August 2015). "No disrespect, a Robbo masterstroke". couriermail.
  16. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  17. ^ "VB NSW Cup Grand Final Team List". NSWRL. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  18. ^ Brett Keeble (27 September 2015). "Newcastle Knights extend Clint Newton's career with NSW Cup win over Wyong Roos". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Tapine heads to Canberra on monster offer". Zero Tackle. 2 August 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  20. ^ Adrian Proszenko (22 December 2015). "Joseph Tapine tipped to leave Newcastle immediately after signing with Raiders". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  21. ^ "Raiders sign Joseph Tapine". Zero Tackle. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  22. ^ 39m ago (20 January 2016). "Joseph Tapine heading to Canberra Raiders after standoff with Newcastle resolved". Canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 25 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ "Updated: Round 3 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  24. ^ "Knights, Raiders play out thrilling draw". National Rugby League. 19 March 2016.
  25. ^ "Live NRL: Canberra Raiders v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, scores, updates, news, blog". 29 May 2016.
  26. ^ "2016 Kangaroos Four Nations squad". National Rugby League. 4 October 2016.
  27. ^ "Scotland managed to draw with New Zealand". NewsComAu. 12 November 2016.
  28. ^ Mascord, Steve (20 November 2016). "Four Nations final: Australia hammer New Zealand 34-8". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  29. ^ "Joseph Tapine season review". NRL. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Kiwis World Cup squad named". NRL. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  31. ^ "74-6: Kiwis absolutely annihilate Scotland at Rugby League World Cup". NZ Herald. 26 June 2023.
  32. ^ "England storm home to beat Kiwis in Denver Test". National Rugby League. 23 June 2018.
  33. ^ "NRL 2018: Raiders lose Joseph Tapine for rest of NRL season". News. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  34. ^ "NRL news 2018: New Zealand Kiwis squad v Australia, England". 1 October 2018.
  35. ^ Raiders retain Tapine through 2023 season The Sydney Morning Herald [dead link]
  36. ^ "Addo-Carr stars as Indigenous All Stars beat Maori All Stars". National Rugby League. 15 February 2019.
  37. ^ "NRL grand final player ratings: Roosters and Raiders hits and misses". SMH. 6 October 2019.
  38. ^ "Sydney Roosters beat Canberra Raiders to win NRL Grand Final". BBC Sport.
  39. ^ "How Ricky Stuart reacted to grand final 'six-again' refereeing shocker". WWOS.
  40. ^ "Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart storms out of press conference after one question". wwos.nine.com.au.
  41. ^ "Roosters' 'Mr Fix It' stuns with hat-trick, Sloppy Raiders' final fade out ends season: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 2 September 2021.
  42. ^ "Tough conversations coming for senior Canberra stars as interest grows in Parramatta young gun Dylan Brown". www.theaustralian.com.au.
  43. ^ "Eels send ruthless title message, bury finals 'ghosts' in Raiders no-show: 3 Big Hits". www.foxsports.com.au. 16 September 2022.
  44. ^ "Ricky turned losing a club legend into a winning season. Now for his biggest challenge - Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
  45. ^ "The Mole's end-of-season review: The 'wasted' enforcer Ricky Stuart must 'fire up' in 2025". www.nine.com.au.
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