Josiah Karapani was just another youngster in Otara playing rugby union, the sport that takes up so many Saturdays in South Auckland, before he was scoring tries under the lights at Suncorp Stadium. It’s simple to forget that not all NRL wingers began their careers chasing league balls. Karapani didn’t. He was raised in the rugby union scene of East Tamaki before deciding to transfer codes when he got to high school. Considering the direction his career has taken, this decision now seems almost inevitable.
Pakuranga College, a public secondary school in East Auckland that doesn’t typically make news for turning out professional athletes, is where that change took place. It was there that Karapani played his junior league career for the Otahuhu Leopards, developing the kind of poise and footwork that scouts see right away. In South Auckland, schoolboy rugby league seems to function almost like an unofficial pipeline, going unnoticed until someone succeeds.
He succeeded. He was signed by the New Zealand Warriors as a teenager, and he played for their SG Ball Cup team in 2020, scoring five tries in five games before the pandemic forced the competition to be canceled. A breakout run ended by something completely unrelated to the sport is an odd footnote in any athlete’s career. It’s difficult not to consider how his trajectory could have changed if he had had a full season to improve.
Rather, in 2021, Karapani left Tasmania to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs, where he progressed through the SG Ball, Jersey Flegg, and New South Wales Cup circuits. Football isn’t glamorous after three seasons of growth. Bus rides, reserve grade crowds, and repeatedly proving yourself in front of selectors who have preconceived notions are all part of it. His game seemed to have been enhanced rather than weakened by the frustration that accompanied that slog.
He relocated to Brisbane by 2024, first signing a train-and-trial contract with the Broncos before being awarded a formal contract in March of that same year. He began the season in the Queensland Cup with the Burleigh Bears, and during Magic Round in Round 11, he made his first-grade debut against Manly Warringah. His family allegedly traveled to witness this historic event. In that first season, nine games—modest by NRL standards but a significant start—were played.
Then 2025 arrived, the year that altered public perception of him. A development prospect became a true first-grade winger with 13 games, 11 tries, 14 line breaks, and an average of 162 running meters per game. Karapani’s form was unavoidable and earned him a winner’s ring in just his second top-flight season, but Brisbane’s premiership run that year wasn’t founded on a single player.
Additionally, he was called up to the Kiwis for the Pacific Championships Final versus Toa Samoa, replacing Sebastian Kris, who was injured. That’s a long way to go for a player who began on the sidelines of rugby union in Otara. It remains to be seen if he turns into a reliable member of the squad or a long-term international fixture. However, New Zealand league supporters typically recall the journey from Pakuranga College to a Test jersey.
