{"id":54032,"date":"2025-07-12T17:28:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T17:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032"},"modified":"2025-07-12T17:28:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T17:28:49","slug":"state-of-origin-2024-billy-slater-urged-to-lure-josh-papalii-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\r\n
\r\n
<\/div><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading into Game\u202f3 of the 2025 State of Origin, Queensland coach Billy Slater made the surprise decision to recall veteran prop Josh Papalii, who had retired from representative football at the start of 2023 .<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Slater revealed the move had been \u201cin the back of his mind for a couple of years,\u201d and following strong performances for the Canberra Raiders in 2025, he believed Papalii could still add real value to the Maroons pack .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Upon being contacted, Papalii (33) responded positively, showing he still carried the passion and drive to represent Queensland .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Slater described Papalii as having \u201can aura\u2026 a real warrior\u201d whose presence provides leadership and belief .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Papalii joined the Maroons squad after a few days with his growing family, following the recent birth of his fourth child .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The decision was widely hailed as bold and strategic\u2014combining seasoned experience with Slater\u2019s typical selection courage .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Former stars and commentators supported the recall:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gorden Tallis publicly urged Slater to reach out, calling Papalii exactly the kind of \u201cenforcer\u201d Queensland needed up front .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Teammates emphasized Papalii\u2019s calming influence combined with fierce competitiveness as hugely valuable to the squad .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although the recall happened ahead of the 2025 series decider, your question referenced \u201cState of Origin\u202f2024.\u201d In 2024, there was speculation around recalls\u2014like the suggestion to bring Papalii back\u2014but the actual selection occurred in 2025, not 2024 .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2024 Retired (since early 2023) Urged by media\/legends to recall (no recall)<\/p>\n

2025 Strong club form, family reasons Slater formally recalls him for Game 3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Therefore, the specific headline \u201cBilly Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out\u201d was indeed linked to 2024 speculation\u2014but the actual execution came in 2025, when Papalii rejoined and featured in the Origin decider.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Billy Slater was urged back in 2024 to bring Papalii out of retirement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The actual recall occurred ahead of State of Origin Game\u202f3 in July 2025, with Papalii re\u2011entering the Maroons squad and making an impact in the decider.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a strategic and emotional move by Slater, welcomed by teammates and aligned with Queensland\u2019s high-stakes approach.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me know if you’d like more on how Papalii performed in that game or what it meant for the series!<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …   Leading into Game\u202f3 of the 2025 State of Origin, Queensland coach Billy Slater made the surprise decision to recall veteran prop Josh Papalii, who had retired from representative football at the start of 2023 . Slater revealed the move had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":54033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[701],"class_list":["post-54032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-canberra-raiders"],"yoast_head":"\nState of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"letsportsrock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"739\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amos Nabizo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amos Nabizo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amos Nabizo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\"},\"headline\":\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032\"},\"wordCount\":390,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Canberra Raiders\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032\",\"name\":\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\"},\"description\":\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg\",\"width\":739,\"height\":415},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?p=54032#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"letsportsrock\",\"description\":\"Sport News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30\",\"name\":\"Amos Nabizo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amos Nabizo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/wp-admin\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.letsportsrock.com\\\/?author=15\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","description":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","og_description":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032","og_site_name":"letsportsrock","article_published_time":"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":739,"height":415,"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amos Nabizo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amos Nabizo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032"},"author":{"name":"Amos Nabizo","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30"},"headline":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …","datePublished":"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032"},"wordCount":390,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","keywords":["Canberra Raiders"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032","name":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-07-12T17:28:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30"},"description":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","width":739,"height":415},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?p=54032#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"State of Origin 2024: Billy Slater urged to lure Josh Papalii out …"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/","name":"letsportsrock","description":"Sport News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/#\/schema\/person\/044479f72bdbd75f9523e745d3be6c30","name":"Amos Nabizo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d569857c07d3899c6ca842ffea32daa1672c05549833530fe37e68ae7b521ba4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amos Nabizo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-admin\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/?author=15"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/images-2025-07-12T182443.464.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54035,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54032\/revisions\/54035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.letsportsrock.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}