Josh Papalii scored a fairytale double as he became the most-capped player in Canberra history and lifted the Raiders to a gritty come-from-behind win over South Sydney.

Chants of ‘Papa’ rang through GIO Stadium after the Raiders legend’s two late tries, before Papalii converted his second himself to put the icing on a 36-12 victory and send the Raiders to the top of the NRL ladder on Sunday.

Television cameras quickly flicked to the touchline after Papalii converted the second and zoomed in on Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.

On Sunday, Papalii made his 319th appearance for the footy club and Stuart lumped praise on him after the match, claiming it was not outlandish to say that the footy star was now one of the top five greatest-ever players to have ever donned a Raiders jersey.

‘This is not a rash statement, the greats of our club, the real greats, you’ve got Mal Meninga, Glenn Lazarus, Laurie Daley and Brad Clyde. You put Josh Papalii in there now and that is without any emotion, that’s just fact, that’s how good a player he is,’ Stuart said.

Josh Papalii capped off what was a record breaking game, with a brace of tries to help the Canberra Raiders seal victory against the Sydney Roosters

Papalii became the club’s all-time leading appearance holder and was given a guard of honour by his team-mates as they sealed a huge victory against the Roosters

‘If you had to pick the five greatest players to play for this club… there they are.

‘I said at the start of the week just let me know if there’s an excuse and we get beaten this week, let me know if you’re going to use the excuse that Ricky has motivated us too much this week so didn’t play well.’

He added: ‘When I spoke to Papa before the game about something, I’ve never seen a man so on. I knew we were going to be hard to beat.

‘I’m so happy for him because the boys did it for him. I know what Joe (Tapine) did this week to get those boys ready to play for Josh.

‘Papa has gone to another level this season in regards to his leadership. Leadership gets branded around so often, our leaders are leading at the moment.

‘The (leadership group) are my main resource and he’s got a massive influence on the younger players.’

Despite the veteran’s late show, it was young five-eighth Ethan Strange who was responsible for turning the day around for the home side, after two early Rabbitohs tries for Keaon Koloamatangi and Alex Johnston threatened to rain on Big Papa’s parade.

Strange was unstoppable in wet and near-freezing conditions that made handling a tricky task.

The 33-year-old (pictured) also converted his second try, sending coach Ricky Stuart into tears on the touchline

Stuart couldn’t believe the moment, holding his hands on his head while breaking down in tears, as he lauded the star as one of the footy club’s five-greatest players of all time.  

In the 70th minute, the strong crowd of 19,438 that braved the miserable conditions were sent into raptures when hooker Owen Pattie sent Papalii (bottom) over with a short-range pass

Stuart added he was rapt for Papalii, who he added has stepped up in recent weeks to lead from the front 

Just before halftime, the 20-year-old showed why he is one of the best running halves in the league by pushing past four Souths defenders to muscle his way to the try line and lift the Raiders back into the game.

Until then, Canberra had looked bereft of ideas in attack, but momentum suddenly swung their way.

Strange replicated his effort after the break, jinking past more flat-footed defenders to put the Raiders back level.

Soon after, Johnston failed to defuse a Jamal Fogarty bomb and back-rower Zac Hosking cleaned up the scraps to send Canberra ahead.

The Raiders grew in confidence and doubled their lead through Simi Sasagi before Papalii, who was given a rare start by coach Stuart in his landmark appearance, came on for his second stint.

In the 70th minute, the strong crowd of 19,438 that braved the miserable conditions were sent into raptures when hooker Owen Pattie sent Papalii over with a short-range pass.

Three minutes later the veteran went over after another Pattie pass and stepped up to land the conversion.

The Raiders went top with the result, though Canterbury could usurp them when they face Parramatta on Monday.

Other than a brief moment in round 2 of 2024, it’s the first time Canberra have topped the ladder since round 6 in 2005.