Cory Paterson

Cory Paterson
Cory Paterson in 2009
Personal information
Nickname Pato, Donny
Born 14 July 1987
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Height 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
Position Second-row, Lock, Centre, Wing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–11 Newcastle Knights 77 21 12 0 108
2011–12 North Queensland 10 4 0 0 16
2013 Hull KR 17 7 0 0 28
2014 Wests Tigers 9 1 2 0 8
2015– Salford Red Devils 0 0 0 0 0
Total 113 33 14 0 160
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2010–12 Indigenous All Stars 3 0 0 0 0
As of 17 May 2014
Source: Rugby League Project

Cory Paterson (born 14 July 1987 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian professional rugby league player and boxer. He currently plays for Salford Red Devils in the English Super League. He previously played 77 NRL matches for the Newcastle Knights. His usual position is in the second-row.

Career

After playing junior rugby league in his home town of Perth, Western Australia,[1] With South Perth Lions. Paterson then attended St Francis Xavier College in Hamilton, Newcastle and in 2005 represented Australia at schoolboy level.[2]

Newcastle

In 2007, Cory Paterson was promoted to train with the Newcastle Knights first team squad.[3] He made his debut in round 2 of that year in a win against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

At the end of the 2008 season, Paterson was selected in the Prime Minister's XIII to play the Papua New Guinea national team in Port Moresby.[4] He then toured the United States to visit a number of NFL clubs and trial for the Oakland Raiders as a punter.[5][6] Paterson suffered depression during the 2009 season, causing him to miss some NRL matches, but returned to good form on the field in 2010 season, when he was selected for the Indigenous All Stars squad.[7][8] In 2011, Paterson represented the Indigenous All Stars again, but midway through the season he was released from his contract by the Knights, a decision made by the club's incoming coach Wayne Bennett.[9]

Cowboys

After being released by Newcastle, Paterson almost immediately signed for the North Queensland Cowboys, on a contract to play for the remainder of the 2011 season and two additional seasons. Paterson was told by the Knights that he was not part of their long term plans and was free to look elsewhere for 2011 and beyond.[10] Paterson converted to Islam during the 2011 season, requiring him to fast during daylight hours in the month of August, co-inciding with the Cowboys run-in to the NRL finals series. Paterson is close to former rugby league player Anthony Mundine and current prominent rugby league player Sonny Bill Williams, who both converted to Islam.[11][12] He sought advice on fasting as a professional rugby league player from Hazem El-Masri, a devout Lebanese-born Muslim who played over 300 first-grade matches for the Canterbury Bulldogs.[13]

Paterson played 7 games for the Cowboys in his first (half) season with the club, he was a member of their qualifying finals series team and scored 4 tries, including a double against the West's Tigers.

Paterson started the 2012 season of playing rep footy for the Indigenous All Stars against the NRL All Stars, he then played in only 2 NRL matches for the North Queensland Cowboys after half the season had finished (starting in both, scoring one try) due to injuries and indifferent form.

Hull Kingston Rovers

On 27 June 2012, he signed a two-year deal with Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers.[14]

Paterson coached the Hawaiian All-stars rugby league representative team in their match against Queensland Indigenous at Oahu, Hawaii on 27 October 2012.[15] The match occurred during the 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake, while tsunami alerts were issued for the islands.[16]

While at Hull KR, Paterson formed a successful combination with Michael Dobson.[17][18] However, it has been reported he has sought an early release from the club to be with his family in Australia.[19]

West Tigers

It was announced in August 2013 that Paterson would join NRL club Wests Tigers on a one-year deal starting in 2014.[20] At the end of the 2014 NRL season and after a total of 96 NRL appearances,[21] Paterson announced his rugby league retirement to pursue his dream of a professional heavyweight boxing career.[22][23]

Salford

At the end of 2014, Paterson ended his brief rugby league retirement and agreed to a 1-year deal to play for the Super League club Salford for the 2015 season. It will see him reunite with former teammate Michael Dobson.[24] The deal includes the option of a second season at Salford.[25]

Boxing

On 5 October 2012, Paterson made a successful boxing debut against Anton Tuilotolava. On 12 November 2014, he won his second fight, on the undercard of the Mundine-Rabchenko fight, against Michael Lua Tama by 1st round TKO. It was his first fight since retiring from rugby league to begin a career in boxing.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Player profile: Cory Paterson". www.cowboys.com.au. North Queensland Cowboys. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Australian Rugby League: Annual Report 2005" (PDF). Australian Rugby League. p. 27. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Paterson re-signs with Knights". RLeague.com. 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  4. ↑ O'Neill, Matthew (16 September 2008). "Hindmarsh to lead PM's XIII". rleague.com. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  5. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/cory-strikes-while-gridiron-hot-20110521-1exr9.html
  6. ↑ Hooper, James (1 November 2008). "Cory kicks up a storm in US". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  7. ↑ Ritchie, Dean (22 March 2010). "Melbourne fullback Billy Slater allegedly taunts Newcastle forward Cory Paterson over depression". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Keeble, Brett (22 March 2010). "Paterson accepts apology from Storm fullback after sledging incident". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Badel, Peter (24 July 2011). "Wayne Bennett's snubbing of Cory Paterson has only made him stronger". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Ryan, Nathan (3 June 2011). "Paterson to join Cowboys immediately". www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Massoud, Josh (2 August 2011). "North Queensland Cowboys NRL star Cory Paterson converts to Islam". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Raper, Tom. "Sonny Bill Williams". WikiPedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  13. ↑ Massoud, Josh (3 August 2011). "Muslim convert Cory Paterson approached Hazem El Masri for advice on Islam during All Star camp". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Hull KR sign North Queensland Cowboys forward Cory Paterson". BBC. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  15. ↑ http://www.amnrl.com/news/nrl-star-coach-hawaii
  16. ↑ http://www.nrl.com/tsunami-warning-cant-stop-rugby-league/tabid/10874/newsid/70309/default.aspx
  17. ↑ http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Paul-Cooke-Hull-KR-players-step-gap-left-Cory/story-19512076-detail/story.html#axzz2aJnrv98p
  18. ↑ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/cory-paterson-reveals-escape-clause-in-super-league-contract/story-e6frexnr-1226623063098
  19. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/23044993
  20. ↑ http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12217/8858508/hull-kr-forward-cory-paterson-secures-move-to-nrl-side-wests-tigers
  21. ↑ Ben Glover (11 September 2014). "Anthony Minichiello, Brent Tate, Braith Anasta lead full list of retiring 2014 NRL players". FOX SPORTS. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  22. ↑ NICK WALSHAW (30 August 2014). "Cory Paterson walks away from big money in rugby league to become a professional heavyweight boxer". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  23. ↑ Erin Molan (4 September 2014). "Honouring 2014's retiring heroes". NRL.com. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  24. ↑ "Salford Red Devils: Cory Paterson open to boxing return". BBC. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  25. ↑ "Super League Salford sign Corey Paterson". AAP. 25 Nov 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  26. ↑ "Cory Paterson beats Michael Lua Tama in second boxing bout since leaving NRL". AAP. ABC. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.

External links