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| Born | (1994-05-04)4 May 1994 (age 30) Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 106 kg (16 st 10 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joseph Tapine (pronounced/tæpineɪ/;tah-pih-neh) (born 4 May 1994) is a New Zealand professionalrugby league footballer who captains and plays as aprop for theCanberra Raiders in theNational Rugby League (NRL), and forNew Zealand and theNew Zealand Māori at international level.
Tapine previously played for theNewcastle Knights in the NRL.
Tapine was born inWellington, New Zealand, and is of Māori descent.
Tapine played his junior rugby league for theHarbour City Eagles. He then joined theWellington Orcas in theNew Zealand Rugby LeagueNational Competition.[citation needed]
In 2013, Tapine joined theNewcastle 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 theJunior Kiwis against theJunior Kangaroos, starting at second-row in the 38-26 loss atWIN Stadium.[5]
In Round 9 of the2014 NRL season, Tapine made hisNRL debut for theNewcastle Knights against thePenrith Panthers, playing off the interchange bench in the 32-10 loss atHunter 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 theinterchange 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 atMt 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]
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 theSydney Roosters, Tapine scored his first NRL career try in the 38-22 loss atHunter Stadium.[15] Tapine improved on his previous season, playing in 13 matches and scoring 1 try in the2015 NRL season.[16]
On 27 September 2015, Tapine played in the Knights'2015 New South Wales Cup Grand Final against theWyong Roos in the 20-10 victory atParramatta Stadium.[17][18]
On 11 February 2016, Tapine signed a 3-year contract with theCanberra 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 theNewcastle Knights, playing off the interchange bench in the 24-24 all draw.[23][24] In Round 12 against theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Tapine scored his first and second club tries for the Raiders in the 32-20 win atCanberra Stadium.[25] Tapine finished the2016 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 theNew Zealand Kiwis 24-man squad for the2016 Four Nations.[26] On 11 November 2016, Tapine made his international debut for the New Zealand Kiwis againstScotland, playing off the interchange bench in the shock 18-18 all draw atDerwent Park.[27] Tapine played in 2 matches in the tournament including playing in the 2016 Four Nations Final match againstAustralia, off the interchange bench in the 34-8 loss atAnfield.[28]
Tapine finished the2017 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 the2017 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 atChristchurch Stadium.[31] Tapine played in all 4 matches and scored 1 try in the Kiwis shock disappointing campaign.
On 24 June 2018, Tapine played for New Zealand againstEngland in the historical test match set inDenver, USA, starting at second-row in the 36-18 loss atMile High Stadium.[32] Tapine played in 16 matches and scored 6 tries for the Raiders in the2018 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 theBaskerville 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]
On 15 February, Tapine represented theMaori All Stars against theIndigenous All Stars in the2019 All Stars match, playing off the interchange bench in the 34-14 loss atAAMI 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 the2019 NRL Grand Final as Canberra were defeated by theSydney Roosters atANZ Stadium.[37][38][39]
Tapine played 21 games and scored 4 tries in the2020 NRL season. He played in all three of Canberra's finals games including the preliminary final loss against Melbourne.[40]
Tapine made a total of 19 appearances for Canberra in the2021 NRL season. The club would finish the year in 10th place on the table and miss out on the finals.[41][42]
Tapine played a total of 25 matches for Canberra in the2022 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 byParramatta.[43]
Tapine played a total of 24 matches for Canberra in the2023 NRL season as the club finished 8th on the table and qualified for the finals. Tapine played in the clubs elimination finals loss againstNewcastle.[44]
Tapine played 24 games for Canberra in the2024 NRL season as the club finished 9th on the table.[45]
| 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 |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)[permanent dead link]