Joe Apikotoa’s rugby on the rise

Above: Joe Apikotoa and his Tawa counterparts at fulltime having given it their all in their Swindale Shield match earlier in the season. HOBM won the match 28-22 with Apikatoa at blindside flanker, and the following week they claimed the first cub rugby round title

Up until late July, Joe Apikotoa’s 2015 had been dedicated to his club rugby with Hutt Old Boys Marist and working as a construction labourer. That was until he got an unexpected call from Wellington Lions Coach Earl Va’a.

Va’a told Apikotoa three days prior to the Wellington Lions’ pre-season hit-out against Canterbury he needed a reserve prop due to an injury in the squad. Apikotoa happily obliged and played the final 10 minutes.

The following week, Apikotoa trained with the Lions but wasn’t in the initial match-day team for the second pre-season game against Tasman, but he later found himself in the team due to another injury.

“A couple of days before [the Tasman game] Jeff (Toomaga-Allen) got injured at training and then I ended up getting told I was going down to Tasman as well.”

So far in the regular season, Apikotoa has featured in both of Wellington’s games off the bench, though that role may be increased following a knee injury to prop Ben May against North Harbour.

In his first year out of college and being the youngest in the team, Apikotoa claims it is simply fortune that’s put him in this position.

“I’ve just been real lucky, honestly. There have been a few injuries here and there. I’ve just kinda had my shot and just given it a decent crack.”

Apikotoa may be playing this down. His versatility around the field is a real upside for the Lions, having played at prop, blindside flanker and number eight during his first season at HOBM. His fitness was an issue however.

“At  Year 11 I was at about 124kgs and now I’m about 112kgs. I just ended up getting into training a bit more and once I decided to do my own training, then it was a bit easier.”

In 2012, Apikotoa’s 124kg frame cracked St. Patrick’s College Silverstream’s 1st XV which ended up beating Wellington College in the premier one final.

Apikotoa’s golden 2012 continued, with his selection in the Wellington Orcas under-17 rugby league squad leading to the Cronulla Sharks offering him a trial at the club later in the year. Though before he headed off to Cronulla, the Melbourne Storm held a trial game at the rugby breeding ground of Wainuiomata which Apikotoa thought he might as well attend.

“I wasn’t even supposed to go there, I was supposed to go to Cronulla for a trial. They (Melbourne Storm) asked me to go over for a camp after the trial game. I said I couldn’t because I was supposed to be going to Cronulla and then Melbourne just offered a contract then and there.”

Apikotoa rounded out his schooling years as a dominant force in Silverstream’s 1st XV while also being awarded the school’sathletics throws award in 2014.

Outside of the school grounds, Apikotoa was selected for the Orcas premier team and from there, the New Zealand Rugby League under-18s in 2013 and 2014.

In November of 2014, Apikotoa packed his bags and moved across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, leaving his mother and younger brother for the first time.

Though he got through all the testing and trainings, Apikotoa’s stay in Melbourne was short-lived.

“Moving away on my own for the first time was quite hard. I ended up just going to training and then coming back and I was just by myself.

“While I was there I was realised I wasn’t really enjoying it. Because I wasn’t enjoying it, I wasn’t doing well. I was feeling, ‘If I’m not enjoying it I shouldn’t be here."

On the 20th of December 2014, Apikotoa left Melbourne Storm and headed back home where he changed codes and pledged allegiance to Hutt Old Boys Marist.

In an up and down season for Hutt, Apikotoa was a standout, especially for a first year Premier player. He says the Lions is a lot different though.

“I think it’s a lot different in the Lions because there are lots of Super [Rugby] players that play for the ITM squad, so heaps of experience.

“Everyone knows how to do their jobs so you just have to worry about yourself.  They nail every little bit of detail every single time, but it all helps my game.”

John Schwalger has given Apikotoa the title of “little kid,” but that’s about as far as the rookie initiation and pranks by the experienced veterans have gone for Apikotoa.

“I’ve just been going around by myself for a while, because some of the boys have been caught out.”

If Apikotoa continues his rise to form though it might be hard to stay away for too long.