Paul Whatuira
Paul Whatuira, 2005
Personal information
Full name	Paul Khan Whatuira
Born	31 July 1981 (1981-07-31) (age 28)
	Wellington, New Zealand
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	14 st 7 lbs (92 kg)
Playing information
Position	Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2000	Auckland Warriors	5	0	0	0	0
2001	Melbourne Storm	6	2	0	0	8
2002–04	Penrith Panthers	62	21	0	0	84
2005–07	Wests Tigers	58	30	0	0	120
2008–	Huddersfield Giants	27	13	0	0	52
	Total	158	66	0	0	264
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2000	New Zealand Māori	1	0	0	0	0
2004–07	New Zealand	16	4	0	0	16
As of 09:51, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Paul Khan Whatuira (born July 31, 1981 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a professional rugby league footballer for the Huddersfield Giants of Europe's Super League where he is contracted until the end of the 2010 season.^[1] A New Zealand international centre, he started his career with the Auckland Warriors before moving to Australia and playing for the Melbourne Storm, then the Penrith Panthers (with whom he won the 2003 NRL Premiership), and later the Wests Tigers (with whom he won the 2005 NRL Premiership).

[edit] NRL career

Whatuira played his junior rugby league at Wainuiomata, near Wellington, where he played with current Huddersfield teammate David Faiumu . Whatuira previously played for the New Zealand Warriors, Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers and the Wests Tigers. He made his first grade debut for New Zealand Warriors against Wests Tigers in the Leichhardt Oval on 14 February 2000, in round 2. He has won two NRL titles to date, the first in 2003 with Penrith, and most recently with Wests Tigers in 2005. 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.^[2]

Whatuira had a forgettable 2006, he was sin-binned in the Tigers' loss to the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville just before half-time with Matt Sing scoring in his absence. In the return match, he suffered a hamstring injury which was aggravated during the warm-up versus Brisbane Broncos meaning he would not play for the rest of the campaign.

[edit] International career

Whatuira has represented the New Zealand national team on 10 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 has been selected in the 19-man squad for the one-off New Zealand vs Australia Centenary test in Wellington, New Zealand on October 14, 2007.

He is also eligible for the Cook Islands^[3].

[edit] Charity work

During 2006, Paul 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 and Dene Halatau for the Naked For A Cause 2008-09 calendar for the McGrath Foundation charity.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Paul Whatuira Official Player Profile
• Paul Whatuira NRL Player Profile

This New Zealand rugby league biography is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e