Paul Merlo is an Australian former professional

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 who played in the 1970s and 1980s. A

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

(NSWRL) competition for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) is an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as the club is commonly ...

and the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

. Merlo was selected to represent New South Wales as a second-rower for Game III of the

1982 State of Origin series The 1982 State of Origin series was the first State of Origin series, annual three-match series for rugby league between New South Wales state rugby league team, New South Wales and Queensland state rugby league team, Queensland to be played enti ...

. Merlo later worked as a regional manager for Cetnaj Lighting Electrical and Data. Based at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, he also became the head coach of the South Newcastle Lions in the

Newcastle Rugby League The Newcastle Rugby League is a local rugby league football competition in Newcastle, Australia. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1910. A Newcastle rugby league team, Newcastle representative team was al ...

competition. In 2010 Merlo was named in a South Newcastle Lions team of the century. This is the same club Paul played his junior football at. In 2010, Merlo was named as a member of the Western Suburbs Magpies' Team of the Eighties. Is now a keen foiler and can be found residing at Fingal Bay. Paul is also an extremely passionate craft beer enthusiast.

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* 1955 births Living people Australian rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Penrith Panthers players Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players South Newcastle Lions players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from New South Wales Western Suburbs Magpies players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub