Paul Whatuira (pronounced , born 31 July 1981) is a New Zealand 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 last played for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

in the NRL in 2011. A New Zealand international , he won

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 ...

premierships with the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...

and

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional 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 joint-venture ...

and achieved success with the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

in the Super League.

Background

Whatuira was born in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Playing career

Early years

Whatuira played his junior rugby league at

Wainuiomata Wainuiomata () is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. Origin of name The word 'Wainui-o-mata' is a Māori name made up of the words Wai = water, Nui = big, O = of, and Mata – which could refer ...

, near Wellington, where he played with former Huddersfield teammate

David Faiumu David Faiumu (born 30 April 1983) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative forward, he previously played in the Natio ...

. He also played

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 it ...

as a schoolboy. He followed the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

as a child and idolised

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

. He represented

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

in 1999.

Auckland Warriors

Whatuira left Wellington at 17 to join the

Auckland Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. He made his first grade début for Auckland Warriors against Wests Tigers in the

Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Sydney ...

on 14 February 2000, in Round 2. He played in four other first grade games for the Warriors that season, before leaving the club at the end of the year. During the 2000 season he was occasionally released to the Wainuiomata Lions and played in the Bartercard Cup.

Melbourne Storm

He spent 2001 at the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

, playing in six first grade games. Paul Whateriera (16 April 2005)

Penrith Panthers

Whatuira joined the

in 2002 and became a first grade regular. He played left centre in the Panthers side that won the

2003 NRL grand final The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers. The ...

. As 2003 NRL premiers, the Panthers travelled to England to face

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

champions, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

in the

2004 World Club Challenge The 2004 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 13 February 2004, at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and larg ...

. Whatuira played at centre in the Panthers' 22–4 loss. His 2003 premiership ring was stolen from his home along with his DVD player in 2005. Two years later the police recovered the ring when they raided a suspected criminal's home.

Wests Tigers

Whatuira joined the Wests Tigers in 2005 and played at centre in the Tigers' 2005 NRL Grand Final victory over the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

, gaining his second premiership ring. As NRL Premiers Wests faced Super League champions

in the

2006 World Club Challenge The 2006 World Club Challenge was a Rugby league match held on Friday, 3 February 2006, at Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield, UK. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and Wests Tigers. Qualification Bradford Bulls Bradford Bulls qualified f ...

. Whatuira played at centre in the Tigers' 30–10 loss. Whatuira had a forgettable 2006, he was sin-binned in the Tigers' loss to the

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

just before half-time with

Matt Sing Matthew Charles Sing (born 13 March 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian and Queensland representative, Sing played his club football for the Penrith Panthers, Sydn ...

scoring in his absence. In the return match, he suffered a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury which was aggravated during the warm-up versus

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 ...

meaning he would not play for the rest of the campaign.

Huddersfield Giants

After considering a switch to

with the New South Wales Waratahs, Whatuira instead moved to England and joined the

in 2008 where he is contracted until the end of the 2010 season. Whatuira played in the Giants

2009 Challenge Cup The 2009 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th staging of the most prestigious knock-out competition in rugby league. Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia were included ...

Final appearance, where they lost to the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington ...

Parramatta Eels

On 21 December 2010, Whatuira signed a one-year deal with the Parramatta Eels for the 2011 season. Whatuira is expected to fill the void left in the backline by departing senior players of Eric Grothe Jr and

Timana Tahu Timana James Aporo Tahu (born 16 October 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He last played for Denver Stampede in the US PRO Rugby competition. A dual-code international representative three-qua ...

. Eels CEO

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a ...

stated that "Paul Whatuira is a proved international performer who brings class and experience to our backline". However, Whatuira retired after just appearing in one game for the Eels.

Representative career

Whatuira represented the New Zealand national team on ten occasions between 2004 and 2006, including the 24–0 win over Australia at Elland Road in the 2005 Tri Nations tournament, in which he scored a try. Whatuira was also selected in the 19-man squad for the one-off New Zealand vs Australia Centenary test in

on 14 October 2007. Whatuira is also eligible for the Cook Islands and was named in their train on squad for the 2000 World Cup. He instead represented Aotearoa Māori at the tournament.

Charity work

During 2006, Whatuira posed for the '' Naked Rugby League 2007-08'' charity calendar, which was produced to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. Paul also posed alongside former Wests Tigers teammates

Robbie Farah Robert Peter Farah ( ar, روبي فرح) (born 23 January 1984) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international, Lebanese international and captain of New South Wales Blues t ...

and

Dene Halatau Dene Halatau (born 27 January 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the National Rugby League. Halatau was part of the Wests Tigers ...

for the ''Naked for a Cause 2008-09'' calendar for the

McGrath Foundation The McGrath Foundation is a breast cancer support and education charity in Australia, which raises money to place McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia and increase breast health awareness. The charity was founded by Aust ...

charity.

Arrest

On 13 October 2009, Whatuira was arrested and underwent a psychiatric assessment after he allegedly assaulted two men. Police used a

Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

gun to subdue him. Whatuira spent 13 days in a secure psychiatric hospital after the incident which was reportedly related to sexual abuse he suffered as a child.James Phelp
Day I nearly killed myself: Paul Whatuira
''Daily Telegraph'', 8 March 2010 Whatuira was not charged over the incident as under section two of the British Crimes Act, he is exempt from potential prosecution as he was deemed "mentally ill".

References

External links

NRL profileHuddersfield Giants profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whatuira, Paul 1981 births Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand Warriors players Melbourne Storm players Penrith Panthers players Huddersfield Giants players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Wellington City Wellington rugby league team players Wests Tigers players Wentworthville Magpies players Wainuiomata Lions players