Apolosi Runaway is 32 years old, holds down a job in Wollongong and once thought his shot at professional rugby was gone. On Friday night, he is set to make his Super Rugby Pacific debut off the bench for the NSW Waratahs.
Stan Sport's Rugby Heaven panel of Michael Atkinson, Justin Harrison and Cameron Shepherd revealed the back-story behind one of the more unlikely call-ups of the 2026 season. With Waratahs tighthead Daniel Botha suspended and forced out of the side, Western Force-bound prop Te Tera Faulkner sliding to start and Tom Lambert added, the door has opened for Runaway to take the bench tighthead jersey for Friday's must-win Aussie derby against the Force at Allianz Stadium.
"This is one of the best rugby stories you'll see," Atkinson told viewers. "He plays for Northern Suburbs in the Shute Shield. He's 32. You look at Apo, put on a lot of weight, basically thought his rugby opportunity to be professional was over and got a few people in his ear at Northern Suburbs, including Matt Dunning, and decided he's going to give this one more crack."
What followed was a complete reset. Runaway stripped the weight, hammered the gym, and committed to a daily commute from Wollongong to Sydney to train with Norths. "Loses a heap of weight, works his butt off in the gym, on the field, drives from Wollongong every single day up to Sydney," Atkinson said. "You know the coolest part? You know who he calls on the drives to keep himself entertained and talk about rugby? Matt Dunning. And they just talk about playing rugby, playing professionally, scrummaging. This is what lit his fire and got him going."
Dunning, the former Waratahs and Wallabies prop, has reportedly become a kind of long-distance mentor for Runaway, the pair dissecting set-piece detail across the M1 most mornings.
The debut path itself has been anything but smooth. Runaway began in Australia with the Wollongong-area Tech Waratahs before moving to Norths and completing a Western Force pre-season at one point. Personal reasons forced him back to Fiji in 2024 and out of the game for a full year. To get to this week, he has reportedly used up the rest of his accrued leave at his Wollongong job so he could be available to train full-time with the Waratahs.
Waratahs head coach Dan McKellar leaned into the story when he announced the squad. "It's a really great example to anyone out there: never give up on your dream," McKellar said.
For Stan Sport's panel, the timing of the debut underlines a deeper truth about the back end of the Waratahs' season. The team sits eighth in Super Rugby Pacific with five rounds left, four wins from nine, and is staring at a must-win run to keep its finals hopes alive. Returning Joseph Suaalii at outside centre and the back-line stretch provided by Dylan Pietsch and Mosese Tuipulotu have given Tane Edmed more room to operate, but the front-row depth has been thin enough that a 32-year-old club prop is suddenly the answer.
Runaway's debut also lines up neatly with the bigger Friday-night narrative. The Force, eager to lock down a top-six berth, are coming off back-to-back wins over the Reds and Crusaders. Zac Lomax, on the other side, is preparing for his return to Sydney as a Western Force man. Yet for Atkinson, Harrison and Shepherd, the bench prop's story might be the moment of the round. As Harrison put it, milestones of longevity and persistence are exactly what Australian rugby needs to celebrate.
