Paul Khan (born 23 June 1953) is an Australian former

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 played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a state representative for both

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

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 , established_ ...

with his first grade club career played with the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

Club and representative career

While playing for Queensland Colts, in 1973 Khan was selected for Queensland in the interstate series against New South Wales. He was graded in 1974 with Brisbane Norths whose coach

Tommy Bishop Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...

recommended him to the

in Sydney where he spent the 1975 season. He had a stint in England with

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in 1976-1977 and returned to Cronulla for the 1978 season and played in that year's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

and the

Grand Final Replay A grand final replay was a method of deciding the winner of a competition when a grand final is drawn. It is commonly used in football codes, particularly in Australian rules football, and most notably in the Australian Football League, where it w ...

. He played further seasons with Cronulla up till the end of 1981 totalling 120 appearances for the club. Khan was a major player in the Sharks' 26-5 smashing of Combined Brisbane in the 1979

Amco Cup The Amco Cup (subsequently known by various other sponsors' names including the Tooth Cup, KB Cup, National Panasonic Cup and Panasonic Cup) was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usual ...

– Cronulla's only piece of silverware to this point. The ball-playing Khan returned to Brisbane in 1982 for a season with Brisbane Easts where he was part of the club's 23-15

Winfield State League The Winfield State League was a rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It was administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was the QRL's parallel to the NSWRL's Amco Cup knockout and ran alongside the Brisbane ...

Final win over Redcliffe at Lang Park. He moved to the John Barber-coached

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...

the following season where he ended up playing in a losing BRL Grand Final side (Easts beating Redcliffe 14–6). He was first selected for NSW in 1978 under the residential criteria. In the single 1981 State of Origin match played under the new Origin selection criteria he was one of four New South Wales based players called on by Queensland. He played in all three games of the 1982 series. He is one of the relatively rare number of players to have represented both Queensland and New South Wales and one of the rare foundation Origin representatives whose NSW appearance was bookended by selections for Queensland.

References

External links

Queensland representatives at qrl.comFOGS profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Paul 1951 births Australian rugby league players Norths Devils players Queensland rugby league team players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Castleford Tigers players Eastern Suburbs Tigers players Living people New South Wales rugby league team Rugby league props Rugby league players from Brisbane