Early years In 2022, Papalii played for the
Burleigh Bears in the QRL Under 19s competition. Later that year she represented and captained the inaugural Australian Schoolgirls team on their tour of Fiji. In 2023, she joined the
Sydney Roosters, playing for their under-19
Tarsha Gale Cup side and winning Player of the Match in their Grand Final win over the
Canterbury Bulldogs. In July 2023, she was named in the Queensland Under-19 and Australian Schoolgirls sides but tore her ACL at the National Championships, ruling her out for the season.
2024 In Round 4 of the
2024 NRL Women's season, Papalii made her NRLW debut in the Roosters' 28–8 win over the
St George Illawarra Dragons. On 6 October, she came off the bench in the Roosters' 32–28 Grand Final win over the
Cronulla Sharks. On 19 October, she made her Test debut for
Samoa, playing three games as they earned qualification to the
2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup.
2025 On 14 April, she was named to make her debut for
Queensland in Game I of the
2025 Women's State of Origin series. ==References==