Papali'i ready to repay the country faith in Tamworth

Few will know the ground of Scully Park better than Wests Tigers forward Isaiah Papali'i when his side meets with the Knights in Tamworth on Saturday.

Relocating to Australia with the Warriors in the midst of COVID-19 was a difficult time for Papali’i and his former teammates but he will never forget how the northwest NSW town of Tamworth opened up their home when they had nowhere else to go.

Wearing postcode 2340 on their jersey in 2020 as a way for the Warriors to show their appreciation to the bush footy town, Papali’i said he is excited to return to Tamworth, as part of the Telstra Country Series, and give back to the community that showed so much generosity in a difficult time.

“It was pretty hard to show our appreciation at the time because we were just stuck in our bubble but they opened up the whole hotel and RSL for us so we had breakfast, lunch and dinner and went out of their way to make us feel welcome,” Papali’i told pan66.com.

“The people made us some really good food and we were quite spoilt actually, considering what the demands were at the time with isolation and all that.

“It was different times, there were a lot of unknowns when we left and I had never even heard of Tamworth before but they made it as homely as possible.”

With Tamworth opening up their rugby league ground Scully Park to the Warriors during their stay, Papali’i said he has fond memories of training on the country oval and is excited to be heading back there with the Wests Tigers after hosting the Rabbitohs there in July last year.

“It was really good to have the opportunity to play there last year because obviously I spent time there with the Warriors but never really got to connect with the community," the star second-rower said.

“When we took a game back there later that year in 2020, I ran water so it was good to get back there last year and play a game on the ground.

“The town always turns up in numbers, they seem to really enjoy their footy and it was a really fun vibe around the grounds.

“The regional areas are a massive part of our game and it’s such a small part of our year to go out there but it can make a big difference in with the kids and the people there.

“It’s important to show them they're just as important as the people in Sydney, and such an important part of our fan base, so going out there and showing our face in person is massive.”

The Wests Tigers will face the Knights without veteran halfback Aidan Sezer who will miss his side's next four matches after being charged for a hip drop tackle, with youngsters Lachie Galvin and Jayden Sullivan set to line up in the halves together for the first time since Round 1.

After teammates Alex Seyfarth and David Klemmer were also charged by the Match review Committee following Saturday’s loss to the bulldogs, Papali'i said the focus will be on errors ad discipline ahead of their clash with Newcastle on Saturday.

“I can definitely feel and see the boys are putting in the effort, I think it's just the smaller moments that are killing us a bit,” he said.

“We’ve just got to make sure we minimise those moments where we lose concentration and that’ll help us get better results.”