Paul Hauff (born 9 May 1970) is an Australian 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s. A

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

and Australian international representative , he played his whole top-level career in Australia for the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite c ...

, later moving to their sister club in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the London Broncos.

Early life

Hauff was born in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. He played his junior football with Cairns Saints.

Playing career

A gangly , He was graded with the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, being named along with

Willie Carne William Carne (born 23 January 1969) is an Australian former rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos from 1990 to 1996, as well as representing both Queensland and Australia and rugby union for the Queensland Reds. An a ...

as the club's joint rookie of the year. He marked his first grade début for Brisbane with a three-try performance against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

Marathon Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, known as McDonald Jones Stadium for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle K ...

, helping the Broncos to a resounding 28-4 win over the Knights. Standing at tall, Hauff is the tallest fullback on record at

level. Hauff also served with the

Queensland Police The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

. During the

1991 NSWRL season The 1991 NSWRL season was the eighty-fourth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year the New South Wales Rugby League experimented with a draft system for the first time. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Sh ...

Hauff was playing well enough to be selected to play for

at fullback in all three games of the

1991 State of Origin series The 1991 State of Origin series saw the tenth time the annual three-match State of Origin series between the New South Wales and Queensland representative rugby league teams was played entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was nota ...

which the Maroons won. He was then selected as the Australia national team's fullback for the first game of the

1991 Trans-Tasman Test series The 1991 Trans-Tasman Test series was an international rugby league test series played in Australia between Australia and New Zealand. The series, which started on 3 July in Melbourne and finished on 31 July in Brisbane, consisted of three test mat ...

. The game was his one and only Test for Australia. In 1992, Hauff required a total shoulder reconstruction after suffering an injury in the Broncos 20-18 win over St George at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

in Round 8 (24 May) saw him miss out on the Broncos' premiership success. Injuries, and the form of

Julian O'Neill Brian Julian O'Neill (born 14 October 1972) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Primarily a goal-kicking or and goal-kicker, during his 14-year top-grade career he played with sever ...

playing fullback saw Hauff restricted to just 13 games for the Broncos between 1993 and 1996. Hauff then signed to play with Brisbane's sister club, the London Broncos in 1996, scoring 13 tries for the club.

Post playing

In 2000 he was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. Hauff returned to being a police officer, serving in the Queensland Police.

References

External links

Paul Hauff at fogs.com.auQueensland representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauff, Paul 1970 births Living people Australian police officers Australian rugby league players Rugby league players from Cairns Brisbane Broncos players Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Australia national rugby league team players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England London Broncos players Rugby league fullbacks