Paul Sheedy (born 16 February 1981), is an Australian former professional rugby footballer. He played

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 ...

for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

in 2001, and he played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

between 2001 and 2004.

Early life

Sheedy attended secondary school at

Marist College Ashgrove Marist College Ashgrove (abbreviated as MCA) is an Independent school, independent Roman Catholicism in Australia, Roman Catholic Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary school for Sin ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, where he played rugby for Ashgrove's 1st XV team in 1997 and 1998. He was selected for the

Australian Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

team in 1998 and played scrum-half in the -winning team that defeated Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England on their 1998–99 tour.

Career

Rugby league

In 1999, Sheedy switched codes to play

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

for the Northern Suburbs Devils (then affiliated with

). He made his

NRL 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 ...

debut for the Melbourne Storm against the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

in 2001, replacing the injured

Robbie Ross Robert Baldwin Ross (25 May 18695 October 1918) was a British journalist, art critic and art dealer, best known for his relationship with Oscar Wilde, to whom he was a devoted friend, lover and literary executor. A grandson of the Canadian r ...

at fullback.

Rugby union

Sheedy switched back to

in the latter part of 2001, signing with the

. In 2002, he was selected and played for the Australian team at the

Under 21 Rugby World Championship The IRB Under 21 Rugby World Cup was the premier tournament for male rugby union players under the age of 21, organised by the sports governing body the International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. ...

held in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. He joined the Manly rugby club in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where he played in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team fro ...

competition between 2002 and 2005. Sheedy made his

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

debut off the bench for the Waratahs against the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

in the opening round of the 2003 season. He returned to rugby league and played for

South Perth Lions South Perth Lions Rugby League Club are an Australian rugby league football club based in South Perth, Western Australia formed in 1948. They conduct teams for both Juniors & Seniors. The club also participates in the WARL (Western Australian Rug ...

in the

Western Australian Rugby League NRL Western Australia (abbreviated as NRLWA, and formerly the Western Australian Rugby League) is responsible for administering the game of rugby league football in the state of Western Australia. The NRLWA administers all forms of the game in ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheedy, Paul 1981 births Living people Australian people of Filipino descent Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players Melbourne Storm players Norths Devils players Philippines national rugby league team captains Philippines national rugby league team coaches Philippines national rugby league team players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Brisbane People educated at Marist College Ashgrove Rugby union scrum-halves New South Wales Waratahs players Footballers who switched code 21st-century Australian sportsmen