Jaxson Paulo (born 3 October 1999) is a Samoa international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

from New Zealand who plays as a er for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL).

Background

Paulo was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and is of Samoan and Maori descent. He played his junior rugby league for the Nerang Roosters and came through the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

system.

Early career

2020

Paulo made his debut in round 10 of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

for South Sydney against the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

. He provided a try assist in the second half as Souths lost the match 20-18 at

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

. In round 16 against Parramatta, Paulo scored his first try in the top grade as Souths won the match 38-0 at

Bankwest Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

. In round 19 against Canterbury-Bankstown, Paulo scored a first half try in South Sydney's upset defeat at

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

. Following Paulo's try, video footage showed the players foot touching the sideline constituting a no try but match officials were not consulted and the on-field decision of try was given. In the elimination finals game against Parramatta, he scored two tries as Souths came from 18-8 down at half-time to win 38-24 at

. The following week, he played in the club's preliminary final defeat against Penrith at

2021

In round 8 of the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

against Canberra, Paulo fractured his

scaphoid The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist (also called the lateral or radial side). It forms the radial border of the carpal tunnel. The scaphoid bone ...

in South Sydney's victory. He was later ruled out for six to eight weeks. In round 21, he scored two tries for South Sydney in a 40-12 victory over

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. In round 24, Paulo scored two tries for South Sydney in a 54-12 victory over arch-rivals the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. In the 2021 Finals Series, Paulo scored two tries for South Sydney in their 36-16 preliminary final victory over Manly. It was only the second time that Souths had qualified for a grand final since their 1971 triumph. Paulo played a total of 12 games for South Sydney in the

including the club's

2021 NRL Grand Final The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadi ...

defeat against Penrith.

2022

Following South Sydney's narrow loss to Penrith in round 23 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

, Paulo was subjected to online death threats. Paulo received the death threats in direct messages to his social media account following an error-ridden performance. On 26 August, Paulo signed a two-year deal to join arch-rivals the

2023

In round 2 of the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

, Paulo scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in a 20-12 victory over the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

. The following week, Paulo scored a further two tries as the Sydney Roosters defeated his former club and arch-rivals South Sydney 20-18. On 26 June, it was announced that Paulo had signed a three-year deal to join Manly starting in 2024.

2024

Paulo only played eight matches for Manly in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as they finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. On 12 November, Paulo would sign a two-year deal with the

starting in 2025.

Statistics

References

External links

South Sydney Rabbitohs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulo, Jaxson 1999 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players People from Takapuna Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sydney Roosters players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players North Queensland Cowboys players