Resurrecting Raiders Papalii's priority despite 'hurt' of Maroons mauling

Papalii impressed in his return from a three-week suspension in Canberra's 38-16 win over Brisbane on Saturday night.

After conceding he felt "gassed" in his initial 20-minute stint, the 29-year-old racked up 178 run metres from 18 hit-ups throughout his 50 minutes as the Raiders won at home for the first time since the opening round of the season.

Papalii is a certain inclusion when Paul Green's Maroons team for Origin II is named on Sunday night, providing he gets through this Saturday's NRL clash against the Dragons in Wollongong unscathed by injury or further judiciary issues.

But beating the Dragons - not NSW - is Papalii's top priority for now.

"I'm more just desperate to play some good footy. We've started slow this year as a club. A lot of us senior players have had a slow start. [Beating the Broncos] was a start in the right direction to hopefully gaining some respect back," Papalii said.

"[The Dragons are] killing it at the moment and playing some good footy. We just need to play some basic footy. That's us, we play off our second-phase style. I thought we turned up [against the Broncos] and grinded out an 80-minute performance.

"It felt good coming back, hopefully I can punch out some long minutes next week."

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Papalii, a veteran of 18 Origins for Queensland, conceded it was tough watching the Blues' 50-6 demolition of the Maroons in Townsville last week.

The NSW backline tore Queensland to shreds on the back of a dominant display from the Blues' forwards. Only Gold Coast prop Moeaki Fotuaika and Storm hooker Harry Grant provided any level of resistance to the relentless onslaught of Brad Fittler's side.

Papalii is likely to be named in the starting front row for the Maroons alongside Melbourne Storm's Christian Welch, who missed the majority of the opener after being forced from the field early with concussion.

While the Raiders are Papalii's priority, there's no doubt Queensland will be a much tougher proposition at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday week with his inclusion.

"[Watching Origin I] hurt," Papalii said.

"Being a part of the Maroons in the past eight to nine years, missing out because of suspension is not ideal but it is what it is. That's footy. We've got to adapt to not hitting high. That was my fault.

"Hopefully I can play another solid game next week [against the Dragons] and see my name for game two."

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