Edmond "Eddie" Paea (born 8 February 1988) is a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

rugby footballer for Tonga. Beginning his professional career playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

with the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, Paea made his debut for the Tongan rugby league team at the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

, before changing to

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and representing the Tongan rugby union team. Eddie currently plays for his junior team, the Mascot Juniors RLFC in the A Grade South Sydney Junior Rugby League competition which Eddie returned to in 2019.

Background

Paea was born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

, Australia.

Rugby league career

Paea made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs in round 26 of the 2006 season against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional Rugby league, rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a j ...

. A

Junior Kiwi The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Supe ...

representative, Paea was named in Tonga's squad for the 2008 World Cup. Paea scored his first senior international try in the World Cup match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 8 November 2008. He also converted one try. Paea spent the majority of his time whilst contracted with South Sydney playing for their feeder team, the

North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in the ...

, in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Paea made a total of 42 appearances for Norths, scoring 15 tries, kicking 79 goals and scoring a total of 218 points.

Rugby union career

Paea played Rugby Union in Krasnoyarsk Russia for Krasny Yar as a first-5. They are currently the holders of the Russian Cup and were the 2015 Russian Champions.

References

External links

Krasny Yar ProfileVideoVideo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paea, Eddie 1988 births Living people Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australian rugby league players Dual-code rugby internationals Niue national rugby league team players North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs players Tonga international rugby union players Tonga national rugby league team players Tongan rugby league players Wests Tigers NSW Cup players Rugby union fly-halves