Paul Mellor (born 21 August 1974 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 ...

) 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for four different Sydney

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 ...

clubs and in Britain before retiring at the end of the 2007 season. He primarily played on the , or as a .

Early career

South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League The South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League is an affiliation of junior clubs in the Southern Sydney, South Sydney area. History Turf wars When the South Sydney Rabbitohs first entered the NSWRL competition as South Sydney in 1908, So ...

from the Matraville Tigers Club, Mellor is the youngest Rabbitoh in history having made his first grade début at the age of 16 years and 10 months on 30 June 1991 against the

Gold Coast Chargers The Gold Coast Chargers were a professional rugby league club which played in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from New South Wales Rugby League season 1988, 1988 to New South Wales Rugby League season 1994, 1994, the Australian Ru ...

Career

Mellor played 17 seasons at the highest level, spanning 221 NRL games and scoring 90 tries. He played for South Sydney, the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

( Heritage № 797) in the UK. Mellor finished as South Sydney's top try scorer in the 1994 and 1996 seasons. Mellor played for Souths in their upset 1994

Tooheys Challenge Cup The Tooheys Challenge Cup (subsequently known by various other sponsors' names including the Network 10, Channel Ten Challenge Cup, Lotteries in Australia, Lotto Challenge Cup and Tooheys Brewery, Tooheys Challenge Cup) was a Pre-season knockout r ...

final victory over

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Whilst at Cronulla, Mellor was part of the 1999 Cronulla side which won the minor premiership and were one of the favourites to take out the competition before losing to rivals St George in the preliminary final by a score of 24-8 at

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

. Mellor would go on to experience further preliminary final heartbreak with Cronulla in 2001 and 2002. Mellor signed for

for the 2003 and 2004 season of Super League. Mellor was utilised in the centre and second row but in the 2004 season moved to the wing and improved his form.

Retirement

Mellor played his final game of Rugby League in the 2007 Qualifying Final against the

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

on 8 September 2007 at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

, electing to retire from the game at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

Refereeing

Since retirement from playing, Mellor took up refereeing. He regularly appears as the video referee in

matches.

Personal life

Mellor does a lot of work with South Sydney Juniors, helping to bring through the next generation of young players. He also helps coach his sons’ teams in the Cronulla junior league. Mellor was schooled at Marist Brothers in Pagewood, completing his Higher School Certificate before studying a Bachelor of Human Movement at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

. He has also completed a level strength and conditioning course through the Rabbitohs.

Career highlights

*''Junior Club:'' Matraville Tigers *''First Grade Debut:'' Round 14, Souths v Gold Coast at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

, 30 June 1991 *''First Grade Record:'' 261 appearances scoring 108 tries *''NRL Minor premiership winner with Cronulla in 1999

References

External links

* ww.nrl.com/telstrapremiership/playerstats/playerprofile/tabid/10898/clubid/11/playerid/226/seasonid/3/default.aspx NRL profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellor, Paul 1974 births Living people Australian people of Maltese descent Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league referees Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Castleford Tigers players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players National Rugby League referees Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers South Sydney Rabbitohs players