Papua New Guinea international Rodrick Tai has joined Central Queensland Capras and will ply his trade in the Queensland Cup in 2026 following his release from Warrington Wolves.
Mount Hagen native Tai arrived at Warrington ahead of the 2024 campaign and spent two seasons at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
His time in Super League brought 13 tries in 41 appearances across all competitions, including four in 18 games this term.
Included in those appearance tallies, the 26-year-old featured in back-to-back Challenge Cup finals for Wire, losing out to Wigan Warriors in 2024 and then to Hull KR in 2025.
A nine-time Kumuls international, Tai’s last game for Warrington came against Salford Red Devils in early July, when he suffered a pectoral tear which would rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.
And having been released upon the conclusion of his contract at the end of the 2025 season, the centre has now returned Down Under: taking up a contract for 2026 from the Capras.
Papua New Guinea star Rodrick Tai lands new club Down Under following Warrington exit
Set to turn 27 in December, Tai had a brief dual-registration stint in the Championship with Widnes earlier this year, though he never registered an appearance for the Vikings.
This will not be his first time playing in the Q Cup having featured 34 times for PNG Hunters in the second-grade competition between 2022 and 2023 as he notched a total of 14 tries.
His displays for the Hunters were what caught the eye of the international selectors, handed a Kumuls debut against Tonga in the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Due to his injury, Tai was not involved this autumn as Jason Demetriou’s PNG side lifted the Pacific Bowl for the second year on the spin, with his most recent international appearance coming in 2024’s promotion/relegation play-off against New Zealand.
Tai now joins a Capras side that finished 13th this year, winning six, drawing two and losing 12 of their 20 matches.
The Q Cup outfit announced his signing via social media, with head coach Lionel Harbin saying: “Rodrick has got a lot of experience playing big games, which is something we were after.”
