Junior Paulo (rugby league, born 1983)

Junior Paulo (born 8 September 1983) is a former United States international rugby league footballer who played as a prop and second-row forward for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL.

Not to be confused with Junior Paulo (rugby league, born 1993).

Junior Paulo
Personal information
Full nameAukuso Junior Paulo
Born (1983-09-08) 8 September 1983
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Height194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight120 kg (18 st 13 lb)
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–09 Parramatta Eels 17 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–13 United States 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Background

Paulo was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He is of American Samoan descent.[2] He is an Australian Schoolboys rugby league international.[3]

Playing career

After spending time in the semi-professional and professional reserve grade competitions in New South Wales, Paulo signed with the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the 2007 season. He made his first grade debut for Parramatta in round 10 of the 2007 NRL season against North Queensland which ended in a 44–14 victory at Parramatta Stadium.

In the same year, he played in Parramatta's reserve grade premiership winning team as they defeated North Sydney 20–15 at Telstra Stadium.[4]

He was named to the Samoa training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup,[5] He signed with the St George Illawarra Dragons for the 2010 NRL season, and with the Penrith Panthers for the 2011 NRL season. In 2011 he was named in the United States national team for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers.[6]

Controversy

In December 2017 Paulo was arrested[7] and, together with fellow former Eels player Royce Hura, faced Waverley Local Court on five charges. These included the possession of two unauthorised semi-automatic pistols, $649,990 in cash alleged to have been the proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal group.

On 10 August 2020, Paulo was sentenced to 17 years in jail after attempting to supply near one tonne of Cocaine into Sydney.[8]

References
  1. Rugby League Project
  2. "Uncle Sam Wants …. Matthew Elliott". Stevemascord.com. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  3. "Australian Schoolboys". Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League. 10 October 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  4. "Eels break Peachey's heart". Herald Sun.
  5. "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. "2013 World Cup Atlantic Qualifier Squads Announced". Rugby League International Scores. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  7. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-14/centennial-park-arrests-include-former-nrl-players/9258756
  8. "Former NRL player Aukuso Junior Paulo jailed over $180m cocaine bust". 7news.com.au.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.