Joseph Paulo (born 2 January 1988) is a former professional

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 ...

footballer who last played as a and for Toulouse Olympique in the Betfred Championship. He has played for both

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at international level. He previously played for the Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the

NRL 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 ...

, and St Helens in the Betfred Super League. He has played for the NRL All Stars and New South Wales City sides.

Early life

Paulo was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand to an

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

n mother, Jane, and a Samoan father, Aukuso. He is also of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

an descent. He was raised in

Sydney 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 Mountain ...

, New South Wales, Australia and is the younger brother of former professional

footballer, and convicted criminal Junior Paulo. As such, he is eligible to represent the national teams of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and the

. Paulo attended

Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown Patrician Brothers' College, Blacktown is a Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in Blacktown, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History The College was founded in 1952 by the Patrician Broth ...

, and represented the Australian Schoolboys team.

Playing career

Penrith Panthers

In round 6, against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Paulo made his

debut for the Penrith Panthers, starting at second-row in the 21-20 golden point extra time win at

Remondis Stadium Endeavour Field (also known by its commercial name PointsBet Stadium and colloquially as Shark Park during Cronulla Sharks matches) is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the ho ...

. Paulo would go on to play in 8 matches in his debut year, but also played for the Panthers NYC team. Paulo was named in the Samoan squad for 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 ...

In round 17 of the

2009 NRL season The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiership ...

, against the Parramatta Eels, Paulo scored his first NRL career try in the Panthers 38-34 win at Penrith Stadium. Paulo finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

with him playing in 14 matches and scoring 2 tries. He was named as part of the Samoan side for the Pacific Cup. Paulo played at lock in Samoa’s 20-22 defeat by the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Barlow Park Barlow Park is a multi-sports facility and stadium in Parramatta Park, Queensland, Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The Park is home of Cairns District Rugby League, Far North Queensland Rugby Union, Cairns District Rugby Union, C ...

. Paulo finished the

2010 NRL season The 2010 NRL season was the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the National Rugby League. The season commenced on 12 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 3 Octobe ...

with him playing in 7 matches for Penrith. Paulo again represented Samoa, playing at five-eighth and kicking a goal in Samoa’s 6-50 loss against

at Mt Smart Stadium. Paulo only played in one match for Penrith in 2011, in round 15 against the Newcastle Knights. He instead played for the Windsor Wolves in the New South Wales Cup until he made a mid-year transfer to the Parramatta Eels.

Parramatta Eels

In round 20 of the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL ...

, against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Paulo made his club debut for Parramatta, coming off the interchange bench in the 8-7 loss at ANZ Stadium. This was Paulo’s only match for the Eels in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, and he spent the rest of the year playing for the Wentworthville Magpies in the New South Wales Cup. At the end of the season, Paulo switched his international allegiance to the

. Paulo played at five-eighth and lock for the Tomahawks in their 2013 World Cup qualifying matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, kicking 10 goals in the victories. On 16 June 2012, Paulo re-signed with the Eels, keeping him at the club until the end of the

2014 NRL season The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...

. Paulo finished the season having played a full season of first grade, appearing in 23 matches for the Eels in the

2012 NRL season The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...

as the club finished last for the first time since 1972. In round 9 of 2013, against the Brisbane Broncos, Paulo scored his first club try for the Eels in the 19-18 win at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

. Paulo finished the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

having played in all of the Eels 24 matches, scoring a try and kicking 6 goals as the club finished last on the table for a second consecutive year. Paulo captained the United States national rugby league team in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

, playing at five-eighth, scoring 2 tries and kicking 6 goals in their campaign, in which they reached the quarter finals. In round 24 of 2014, against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Paulo played his 100th NRL career match in the Eels 22-12 win at Parramatta Stadium. Paulo finished the

with him playing in all of the Eels 24 matches, scoring a try and kicking 3 goals. On 30 October 2014, Paulo extended his contract with the Eels to the end of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

after rejecting offers from the Canberra Raiders. On 13 February 2015, Paulo was selected on the interchange bench for NRL All Stars to play against the Indigenous All Stars in the

2015 All Stars match The 2015 All Stars Match was the fifth annual representative exhibition match played between the Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars. It was held on 13 February 2015, returning from a one-year hiatus. The Indigenous side was selected t ...

Cbus Super Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home ground to the National Rugby League's Gold Coast Titans; t ...

. The NRL All Stars lost 20-6. On 3 May 2015, Paulo played for New South Wales City Origin against New South Wales Country Origin, coming off the interchange bench in the 34-22 loss in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. After the City vs. Country clash, Paulo was axed to the Wentworthville Magpies due to bad form. Paulo finished the

2015 NRL season The 2015 NRL season was the 108th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 18th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, which was followed ...

having played in 14 matches for the Eels. On 2 November, Paulo was released from the final year of his Eels contract to sign a two-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2016.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

On 28 January 2016, Paulo was named in the Sharks 2016 Auckland Nines squad. In round 2 of the

, Paulo made his club debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the St George Illawarra Dragons, starting at lock in the Sharks 30-2 win at

Southern Cross Group Stadium Endeavour Field (also known by its commercial name PointsBet Stadium and colloquially as Shark Park during Cronulla Sharks matches) is a rugby league stadium in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware, New South Wales, Australia. It is the ho ...

. Paulo made 10 appearances for Cronulla in the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

but spent the majority of his playing time with Cronulla's feeder club, the Newtown Jets, in the New South Wales Cup. In 2018, Paulo made 21 appearances for Cronulla as the club reached the preliminary final but fell short of a grand final appearance losing to Melbourne 22-6. This would prove to be Paulo's final game with the club as the player had announced earlier in the season that he was to join St Helens in 2019.

St Helens

He played in the

2019 Challenge Cup Final The 2019 Challenge Cup Final was the deciding game of the Rugby Football League's 2019 Challenge Cup competition, the 118th staging of the competition. The match was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 August 2019 with kick off at 15:00. Th ...

defeat by the Warrington Wolves at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Paulo did not feature for St. Helens in their 2019 & 2020 Grand Final victories.

Toulouse Olympique

It was announced on 10 November 2020 that Paulo would leave St. Helens and had signed for Toulouse Olympique, playing in the

RFL Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the Rugby Football League Championship Second Division, second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football Lea ...

, from the 2021 season on a two-year deal. On 10 October 2021, Paulo played for Toulouse in their victory over Featherstone in the

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...

which saw the club promoted to the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

for the first time in their history.

International caps

References

External links

St Helens profileSL profileCronulla Sharks profileNRL profile2017 RLWC profileSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulo, Joseph 1988 births Living people Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand people of American Samoan descent New Zealand people of Niuean descent New Zealand rugby league players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players NRL All Stars players Parramatta Eels players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan sportspeople St Helens R.F.C. players Toulouse Olympique players United States national rugby league team captains United States national rugby league team players Wentworthville Magpies players Windsor Wolves players