{"id":109794,"date":"2025-10-31T01:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109794\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T01:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:06:07","slug":"kiwis-v-tonga-new-zealand-enforcer-joseph-tapine-says-huge-tongan-crowd-will-fuel-the-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/109794\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwis v Tonga: New Zealand enforcer Joseph Tapine says huge Tongan crowd will \u2018fuel the fire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

That was illustrated in the 24-18 win over Samoa two weeks ago<\/a>. Though the Kiwi support was decent, they were drowned out by the Samoans, who accounted for at least two thirds of the crowd at Go Media Stadium. <\/p>\n

The Kiwis could barely hear their own haka, then had to dig deep throughout the second half, as Samoa were lifted by their fans. But that brought out the best in Tapine, who was arguably the dominant forward on the field. It was similar to his performance for the Raiders against the Warriors in May, as he took on the home pack in an intimidating display, where he was cast as the villain.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth times, against Warriors and against Samoa, getting booed probably fuelled the fire,\u201d said Tapine. <\/p>\n

\u201dYou know, \u2018boo me – I want to show you\u2019 – that\u2019s my mentality. I want to prove people wrong and when the booing happens I\u2019m amping that up another five times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JosephJoseph Tapine is a damaging ball runner.
\nPhoto \/ www.photosport.nz<\/p>\n

With his uncompromising style, Tapine is seen as an enforcer. He doesn\u2019t completely reject that tag but feels it is more about leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say enforcer but I think being a leader and you\u2019re playing a contact sport, you want to protect your team,\u201d said Tapine. <\/p>\n

\u201dThat\u2019s more of the role, not enforcer. I just try and be the guy that people can depend on. If something goes wrong, I\u2019ll stand up for them or if there\u2019s contact I\u2019ll go towards it. I want to be the guy that everyone wants to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s definitely the case, as Tapine has established himself as a Kiwis great in recent years. He has accumulated 23 tests since his 2016 debut <\/a>\u2013 a significant number given the sparse international schedule \u2013 and only Kieran Foran has more experience in the current squad. <\/p>\n

The Kiwis are everything to him \u2013 \u201cI always say \u2013 this is my pinnacle\u201d and it has shown through in his performances, best epitomised in the 30-0 win over Australia in Hamilton in 2023<\/a>, when he ran for more metres than any other forward on the field (197) and topped the Kiwis tackle count (33)<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old is in a good place, recharged after a \u201cspecial\u201d North Island road trip with his wife Kirsten and daughter LLua, 2, during their bye week. <\/p>\n

It included a memorable visit to his ancestral marae \u2013 R\u016b\u0101toki \u2013 deep in T\u016bhoe country \u2013 for the first time in more than 25 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and my wife want our kids to grow up knowing where they\u2019re from and that comes from us,\u201d explained Tapine. <\/p>\n

\u201c[My daughter] has been to where my wife and her grandparents are from [Goodooga, 800km northwest of Canberra] so I thought it was good to return home and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one of the most recognisable figures in the NRL, Tapine wasn\u2019t exactly anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone noticed me and welcomed me on to the marae,\u201d said Tapine. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was just happy to go out and have a look around, but he explained a lot more in detail, which I have to learn about as part of my journey. It\u2019s more for my kids now, passing that knowledge on.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a night in Taup\u014d, the family also stopped at R\u0101t\u0101 \u2013 just outside Marton, the home of his maternal grandmother \u2013 before seeing friends in Levin, then having time in Wellington.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to Sunday\u2019s clash, Tapine discounted talk of revenge \u2013 after last year\u2019s 25-24 loss at Go Media stadium \u2013 but admitted that result had hurt<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One of the lasting memories from that match was Tapine\u2019s spectacular try, where he managed an improvised kick, collected the ball at full pace, then beat two defenders near the sideline before scoring under the posts, bringing back memories of his days as winger in junior footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a blur,\u201d laughed Tapine. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just saw the ball, tried to kick it, it wasn\u2019t even my dominant foot. I just kicked ahead [like a] baby giraffe, then picked it up. It is one of my best tries I\u2019ve scored.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was another reminder of Tapine\u2019s unique skillset and taste for the big occasion. The Kiwis are in a favourable position, as Tonga will need to win by a 17 point margin to qualify for the final next week in Sydney, given the respective points differential after their 34-6 defeat to Samoa, but there is no complacency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to come out fast and hard and it\u2019s going to be a tough, tough match,\u201d said Tapine.<\/p>\n

\u201dYou never take anyone lightly and they have got a pack that\u2019s done a lot in the game and is very experienced.”<\/p>\n

Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That was illustrated in the 24-18 win over Samoa two weeks ago. Though the Kiwi support was decent,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10106,2068,15441,78778,2079,71,2678,46613,8482,53733,807,36424,48053,117,111,43,139,69,46614,312,10809,78779,223,1961,53476,31782,5273,1533,80],"class_list":["post-109794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-admitting","tag-cant","tag-crowd","tag-enforcer","tag-fire","tag-from","tag-fuel","tag-hostile","tag-huge","tag-joseph","tag-kiwis","tag-largely","tag-lock","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-reception","tag-says","tag-sunday","tag-tapine","tag-the","tag-this","tag-tonga","tag-tongan","tag-wait","tag-will","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}