Paul Whatuira

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article.
Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.

Paul Whatuira (born July 31, 1981 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby league player for the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League competition. Whatuira previously played for several other clubs, the Penrith Panthers, Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors. He has also represented the New Zealand national team on four occasions between 2004 and 2005 and his position of choice is at Centre. He is considered a very talented centre, a fact backed up by him winning 2 premierships with two different teams in 3 years.

Whatuira had an unforgettable 2006, first being sin binned in the Tigers' loss to the Cowboys in Townsville just before halftime. Cowboys winger Matt Sing scored in the progress. In the return match, he suffered what was initially a calf injury until scans revealed it was actually a hamstring injury. He would not play another game that season after reinjuring his hamstring during training preceding a match against the Brisbane Broncos in Brisbane. Surprisingly, the Tigers won that match 20-6.

ACHIEVEMENTS

NRL Premiership winning player on 2 occasions (2003,2005) for 2 different clubs.

Leading try scorer for a centre (2005)

New Zealand representative for 10 tests (2004-2006)

Currently Incumbent New Zealand Centre.