One try, 150 fans, 200 T-shirts and a special NRL debut for Parramatta Eels junior Joash Papalii

“He just told me straight, ‘you’ll be debuting this week’, and in my mind I was like, are you joking?” Papalii said.

“I was about to cry – I try to hold my tears – [but] when he said it, it was a relief. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect it this week. But I had to be ready for anything.”

As he bounded onto the field, the crowd erupted – 150 of them wearing jumpers and T-shirts plastered with his face.

“I’ve always wanted to do that my whole life, and I grew up being a Parramatta fan as well, my whole life, and to do it at this club is so special, it feels surreal,” he said.

“[My aim was to] try and bring that energy on that wing, try and get involved and try and bring that energy, and just keep chatting. I thought chat helped me with our right edge; the more I chat, the more I’m comfortable on that edge, so I just took deep breaths, making sure that I’m not panicking, making sure that I’m owning moments.”

It was a surreal moment for Papalii’s father, Pele, and mother, Margaret.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Margaret said. “I never thought that he would actually run on the field really in the game because I was too busy doing the T-shirts outside, and then as soon as I walked in I saw him, and he was already on the field.

“We got made 200 [jumpers and T-shirts] in total, not including the T-shirts that people ordered from overseas, so there’s a backlog batch that we’re going to send over on Monday. Overseas friends, family, New Zealand, America, Hawaii – I think there are 90 that are waiting to be posted out.”

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But the moment was just as much about giving back for Papalii, who never would have made his debut without the support of his family.

“That’s all I wanted to do, is give back to them – my dad and mum and all the sacrifices they’ve given me throughout my life,” Papalii said.

“All the trainings, all the drives, even they would take off work to take me [to footy], and I just wanted to give back and make them proud.”

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