Reece Walsh’s knee injury has opened up the door for Josiah Karapani to make his long-awaited NRL debut with the young gun to start in the centres for Brisbane in Magic Round after Selwyn Cobbo switched to fullback.
Karapani joined the Broncos in the off-season after a spell at South Sydney where he came incredibly close to making his debut two years ago only to miss out due to an untimely illness.
"Walshy isn’t quite right with his knee, so we’ll leave him out and bring in Josiah, so it’s a nice weekend to get his debut at Magic Round," Kevin Walters said.
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Who is Josiah Karapani? Brisbane Broncos rookie to make NRL debut at Magic Round
The 22-year-old has been plying his trade for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup so far this season, crossing for six tries in eight appearances whilst posted out on the wing.
Karapani made the move to Red Hill after spending a number of years in the New Zealand Warriors and Rabbitohs’ youth systems and also has an extensive rugby union background.
"I grew up in New Zealand – around the south Auckland area - and I played with a rugby union team called East Tamaki," Karapani told The Sporting News last year.
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"I grew up playing union until I was 13 and then I went to school and played league. I started to play for the Warriors in their junior system and transferred to the Rabbitohs after COVID.
"It was a huge thing for me – I wasn’t really sure where I was going with union. I did make it to some rep teams, playing in the U18s Auckland team, but there wasn’t really anything after that.
"When I was in the Warriors system, I played SG Ball and played a few games over here – we used to come over every two weeks. I was lucky enough to get some interest from one of the coaches from the teams that I played against.
"They called my uncle who lived over here to see what I was up to – the only thing I was doing was training by myself when footy was over through COVID. That’s when the opportunity to move over to Australia happened."
Former Bunnies coach Jason Demetriou liked what he saw from the youngster in the NSW Cup and informed him he was going to hand him an NRL debut.
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However, his dreams were scuppered when he was admitted to hospital with an illness that kept him bed-ridden for weeks, before he eventually missed the rest of the season as he recovered.
"JD has been good to me, especially with any habits that I’m stuck in or areas I’m lacking, he will always keep me accountable," Karapani revealed last year while still with the Bunnies.
"He always loves to be fair on each and every one of us as players. He has been a big role model for me, and he has a lot of faith in what I can do. He gives me a lot of life advice as well."
Meanwhile, his current coach Walters noted how excited he was for Karapani ahead of his debut at Magic Round this Friday, citing how the youngster had earned his chance after impressing in reserve grade.
"He’s really accelerated his form over recent weeks, he’s got speed and a great attitude and deserves his opportunity," Walters said.
Karapani initially joined the Broncos on a train-and-trial contract but was upgraded into the club’s top 30 squad after impressing in the pre-season.
