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'Whatever happens, happens': Papali'i coy over contract backflip speculation

(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)

Parramatta second-rower Isaiah Papali’i has refused to confirm where he will play in 2022 amid speculation he could back out of his three-year deal with the Wests Tigers.

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The reigning Dally M second-rower of the year, Papali’i signed a contract in November to join the Tigers from 2023 but did so on the understanding he would be reuniting with his coach at international level, Michael Maguire.

Maguire has since been sacked from his post as head coach of the Tigers, who are on the bottom of the ladder.

Reports emerged this week that Papali’i was now reconsidering his move to the struggling club.

Eels coach Brad Arthur revealed at his captain’s run this week that the club would have the space to retain the New Zealand international if he chose to stay put.

After the Eels’ defeat of the Warriors on Friday night, Papali’i would not confirm he would be at the Tigers next season, but nor did he pledge his future to Parramatta.

“That’s not my focus at the moment,” he said.

“I want to make sure I put my best foot forward in this season that I have here by playing week to week and worrying about my job.

“Whatever happens, happens.”

On Thursday, the Tigers dispelled the uncertainty around their rebuild by announcing premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens would resume head coaching duties from next season.

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The two most-capped players in Wests Tigers history, Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall, will serve as his assistants, with the latter set to take the reins as head coach from 2025.

“That’s great for the club,” Papali’i said.

“Obviously everyone was wondering who the coach would be so knowing what their plan is going forward is good for the club. I’m happy for them.”

Papali’i has built a relationship with Marshall through his international duties, just as he did with ex-Tigers coach Maguire.

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“I’ve been in some camps with (Marshall) with the Kiwis,” Papali’i said.

“He’s a good mate … but that’s all I really have to say at the moment.”

Tigers five-eighth Adam Doueihi urged Papali’i to honour his contract, saying the joint venture had plenty to offer.

“We’re definitely a club on the rise,” he said.

“We’ve made another really good signing in (dual premiership-winning hooker) Api Koroisau for next year. And with Tim, Benji and Robbie coming on board, it’s only going to be good for us.

“If (Papali’i) comes, it’s definitely going to be a big boost for us on the edge.”

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

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