Canberra Raiders captain Joseph Tapine has backed young dummy-half Owen Pattie to take his game to an even greater level in 2026 after getting his first taste of NRL this year.
Entering the 2025 season as a relatively unknown (away from the nation's capital), Pattie quickly established himself as one of the code's best young dummy-halves and provided a lethal one-two punch combination with Tom Starling.
Debuting in Round 1, the 21-year-old would go on to feature in every match for the Raiders and played a pivotal role in helping them claim the minor premiership by finishing on top of the ladder and making it into the second week of the finals.
While the club hoped to go further than what they did, Pattie will look to replicate his maiden season performance heading into 2026 and is only going to get better and better as he continues to grow over the next few years.
Witnessing Pattie's skill first-hand, Raiders front-rower and skipper Joseph Tapine has praised the 2024 Under-21s Jersey Flegg Cup player of the year and backed him to reach even greater heights next season.
"Very impressed with him for a young fella," Tapine told Zero Tackle.
"He had zero experience in the NRL level and playing every game and doing what he'd done that was really cool.
"He'll get better next year and the year on and so forth due to exposure and I think he got great exposure this year."
