NRL: Set to graft it out with bro

Steve Rapira will pack down with former Warriors under-20 team-mates next year. Photo / Getty Images

The crocodiles and snakes were fun for a while, but 2011 Warriors back-rower Steve Rapira is looking forward to leaving them behind when he moves from Townsville to Mt Smart Stadium next season.

The 21-year-old was missing with a shoulder injury last night for the Cowboys' match against the Warriors. He has a minor tear that should be patched up after next week's bye.

While Rapira's fearless on the field, he says that mentality must be applied away from the NRL; in the Australian outback.

"Our team would go to wildlife parks and check out crocodiles, I also held a few snakes but the best thing we did was a trip to Darwin. We were on the Adelaide River and these six foot crocs just came up to the boat and basically stood up in the water, hunting for food. You could have put your hand out to touch them."

Rapira's already enthused about returning home, not only to play with brother Sam, but also to rejoin a number of the under-20s players he left behind to pursue first grade ambitions elsewhere.

"Being closer to family is a big incentive, but a lot of my mates are playing in the top team now, like Russell [Packer], Nobby [Kevin Locke] and Ben [Matulino]. There's also my niece [Sam's daughter] Maiangi. She'll be two this year and I've missed seeing her growing up."

Rapira has now played 24 matches for the Cowboys and took out their rookie of the year award last year, something not lost on Warriors coach Ivan Cleary: "He came up through our development programme and then with the Junior Warriors. We've always liked what he has to offer as an aggressive defender who provides real value with the ball as well."

Warriors stand-in skipper Micheal Luck says the team rated Rapira's contribution at the club two years ago, it's just that there was no space left to keep him.

"He's a good kid from a good family. You see what Sam does on the field every week and Steve does likewise for the Cowboys - he's a real worker."

While he admires the crocodiles, he's got plenty of time for his Cowboys teammates too, even the often vilified Willie Mason, who joined the club this season.

"I didn't quite know how to take him, but he's been a top bloke since he's been here. He puts his body on the line for you."

The Warriors can partly thank Hamilton Boys' High School for Rapira's services. They made him decide between union and league before he got to first XV level.

"It was a no-brainer to pick league. The old man [a former New Zealand Maori prop] played it for the Hukanui club when we were younger and we acted as ball boys. Sam and I started aged 5 or 6 then switched to union because there wasn't enough competition around a big rugby union city like Hamilton. Then, when I was about 15, a few of the boys started playing again and doing all right, so we thought we'd give it a go.

The other bonus of Rapira's return is that dad Cliff can now wear a full Warriors jersey after last year stitching it together with half a Cowboys strip.