With injuries threatening to end Canberra's season before it really begins, the Raiders could do with a wise old head for this week's clash with the Titans.
Instead, they're getting something better – the return of Jordan Rapana.
Rapana does have the "old" part covered. At 32, he's the oldest at the Raiders and only four active NRL players – Andrew McCullough, Wade Graham, Kevin Proctor and Aiden Tolman – got their start in the league before Rapana did back in 2008.
"In age, I'm the oldest at the Raiders, I have a few weeks on Elliott Whitehead, but if you speak to the boys I'm still pretty immature at times. But you have to be like that sometimes," Rapana said.
Rapana, who will return on the right wing after missing two games due to suspension, never really got the wisdom bit.
Wisdom would say that as an NRL career goes on, a player needs to learn how to minimize head-on collisions in order to prolong their career. Wisdom would say to stop going a thousand miles an hour every single time. Wisdom would say that picking a running battle with David Fifita in the All Stars game is a bad idea.
There are good reasons not to do those things but for Rapana, those reasons don't matter and the reason for that is simple – he made his choice, a long time ago in a place far, far away, during the Mormon mission that kept him away from the NRL for half a decade, that if he ever played footy again he would never, ever hold anything back.
"The biggest part of that came from being out of the game for so long. I was away for five years, and once I got back I knew what it was like to go without the lifestyle we have, the profession of being a footballer," Rapana said.
"I thought if I ever got a crack in the NRL again that I'm going to make the most of it, I'm going to play every game like it's my last and leave the field with nothing left in the tank.
"It's something I've taken pride in over the years. I never want to come off the field thinking I should have tried harder. That's my biggest motivator with how I play."
That attitude is why Rapana is exactly what the Raiders need for Saturday's clash with the Titans.
Injuries to Harley Smith-Shields, Jarrod Croker and Nick Cotric, Rapana's suspension due to his tangle with Fifita and Brad Schneider's absence due to COVID protocols meant Canberra's backline depth was stretched to it's limit in last week's dire loss to North Queensland.
The back five combined for just 328 metres in the 26-6 defeat, an average of 63.6 metres per man, as the Raiders struggled badly to escape from their own end.
Rapana has been a yardage specialist for years, and his return should help alleviate the issue. He's the club's reigning player of the year after a superb campaign during their difficult 2021 season, due in no small part to his relentless effort and physicality.
"I'm getting on, but last year was one of my best years in footy, so the body definitely feels younger than what the age says. I'm definitely enjoying my footy, and that's what I want to do over the next two years," Rapana said.
"It might not sound like much, but a full pre-season really makes a difference. The year before I went to Japan and put on about 10 kilos, the years before that I kept playing Test matches, I just couldn't get a full pre-season under my belt.
"Last year was the first time in a while I got the kays (kilometres) in my leagues and got my strength back where it had to be.
"It's not so much the first few weeks of the season where you notice it, but once you get to Round 12, 13 or 14, that's when the hard work comes into play, that's when you see the fruits of it."
Rapana re-signed with the Raiders on a two-year deal last season, which will take him past his 34th birthday, but he's never lost the flair he's shown ever since he debuted for Gold Coast as an 18-year old all those years.
He's all but certain to crack the 100 career tries mark – he's currently on 87 in 154 NRL games – and it would be a remarkable achievement for a player who was out of the big leagues for almost five seasons.
True to form, Rapana is still aiming at something bigger. Josh Hodgson's season-ending knee injury means the Raiders have lost almost half their 2019 grand final line-up and plenty are asking if the club has missed their chance at ending their title drought, but Rapana is still aiming for a grand final victory before he retires.
"Those little accolades are just another thing. You don't go out there to score 100 tries, it's just a thing that happens," Rapana said.
"It would be something cool to tell the kids or the grandkids, but I'd rather 100 wins and premiership. I'd be happy to score no tries if we won the comp."
