NRL: Rapira junior keen to make most of brother's bad luck

Steve Rapira is a player keen to make his mark in his first game for the Warriors this season. Photo / Getty Images.

As league players, the Rapira brothers have two main things in common: they play the game with an extreme disregard for their wellbeing and both have paid the price on the injury front.

An array of injuries has severely curtailed Steve Rapira's chances since his return to his hometown club at the beginning of last season, limiting him to just four appearances.

Having started pre-season training four weeks early and packing on 10kg of muscle to facilitate a switch from the back row to prop, he entered 2012 primed to make a big impact. Those hopes lasted until the Warriors' second trial match, when he rolled an ankle. The initial diagnosis was a sprain, but scans later revealed fractures that would result in a 12-week layoff. Four weeks ago he returned for the Vulcans in the NSW Cup and he has since been waiting for an opening in the top grade.

That his chance comes courtesy of older brother Sam suffering a triceps tear that is likely to end his season makes Steve's call-up bittersweet.

"When [Sam] went down at the weekend I was so gutted for him," Rapira said. "But when I found out [on Tuesday] I was getting a run I told him and he was so happy for me. He said, 'this is your chance, don't let it pass you by'."

The Warriors have a track record of turning back rowers into props, with Ben Matulino and Jacob Lillyman notable successes. But when told he would be next to make the transition, Rapira was shocked.

"When they first told me, I was only 93kg and I thought, 'No, you are crazy. How many 93kg props do you see out there?' But now I have got the weight on I am a lot more comfortable."

Like Sam, Steve Rapira only knows one way - straight ahead - and he is also a fearsome tackler.

"He is as hard a front-on defender as I have come across in the game," coach Brian McClennan said. "If anyone wants to take him head on, good luck to them."

Rapira's body pays a heavy toll for his high-impact approach to the game, but it is not something he is about to change, even if he could.

"I think about that sometimes, trying to pace myself, but when I'm out there I just get in the zone."

He has always wanted to be able to play the game like his big brother. Now that he weighs 103kg - just 2kg short of Sam's listed weight - he reckons he has the chance to do just that.

"I was never as big as him so I didn't have quite as much of an impact, so I guess I had to rely more on technique. Now I have got the size, so I'll see if I can do some damage."