Paul Whatuira

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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 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 . His position of choice is at Centre.

He has won 2 premierships with two different teams in 3 years.

Whatuira had an forgettable 2006, he was sin binned in the Tigers' loss to the Cowboys in Townsville just before halftime and Cowboys winger Matt Sing scored in his absence. In the return match, he suffered what seemed 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. The Tigers won that match 20-6.

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.

[edit] Achievements

Dual NRL Premiership winning player (2003, 2005).

Leading try scorer for a centre (2005)

New Zealand representative for 10 tests (2004-2006) and incumbent NZCentre.

[edit] External links