Paul Vautin
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Paul Vautin (born 21 July 1959), nicknamed Fatty, is a former Australian rugby commentator and 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 ...
player, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and also hosted '' The Footy Show'' from its beginnings in 1994 opposite co-host Peter Sterling, until 2017. An
Australian Kangaroos The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...
test and
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Vautin played club rugby in Brisbane with Wests, before moving to Sydney in 1979 to play with
Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St Helens. After playing, Vautin became a sports commentator for the Nine Network, calling rugby league games alongside
Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...
and the recently retired Peter Sterling. Later, during the
Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Sup ...
, he was hired to coach Queensland in the
1995 State of Origin series The 1995 State of Origin series was the 14th annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league teams. Due to the Australian Rugby League's ongoing conflicts with Super League, they ruled that no Sup ...
and took the Maroons to an upset 3–0 whitewash of series favourite
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 ...
. After 46 years in the public eye having started his first grade career in 1978, Paul Vautin announced his retirement from commentating for channel 9 on 1 December 2024.


Playing career

Vautin made his name in the late 1970s. He played for the
Wests Panthers The Western Suburbs Panthers, or the West Brisbane Panthers, or often simply referred to as Wests for short, is a semi professional rugby league club based in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club is the oldest in the ...
in the
Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership und ...
, the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...
in Sydney, St. Helens in England,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
in the State of Origin and the
Australia national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Com ...
. He finished his playing career with Sydney club the
Eastern Suburbs 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 1991.


Club


Wests Panthers

He was graded as an 18-year-old by
Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League premiership was a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in Brisbane Rugby League (2001), 2001, kno ...
club Wests as a in 1978, sometimes playing opposite another talented young lock from Valley's destined for future greatness as a named
Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...
. That year he got his first taste of senior representative football when he was chosen on the bench for the Brisbane Colts who played the touring
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
side at
Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...
. Vautin was signed by Manly-Warringah club Secretary Ken Arthurson in late 1978 after Arthurson had viewed a tape of him scoring a 75-metre try from a scrum for Wests at
Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...
, and moved from Brisbane to play for the defending NSWRFL premiers starting in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. Before signing with Manly, Vautin had offers from both Cronulla-Sutherland, and
North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...
who's coach, former
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
(and Cronulla) halfback
Tommy Bishop Thomas Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champi ...
actually visited the Vautin home in Brisbane and made an offer of AU$7,500 per season (according to Vautin, at the time he was on $100 per game with Wests Panthers). His father wished him to sign for Norths as it was more money than even he made as a train driver, but the Panthers got their hooks into it wanting money for their investment into Vautin and put a $6,000 transfer fee on their teenage back rower, which made Norths pull their offer. Within two days Vautin had signed with Manly for $6,000 per season who were more than happy to pay the transfer fee. According to Vautin, he told his father that he would probably last three years in Manly's reserve grade before coming back to resume his career with Wests.


Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

After arriving in Sydney, Vautin didn't impress Manly coach Frank Stanton (who at the time was also the City Firsts & Seconds,
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 ...
and
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
Test coach), with his level of fitness which was OK for Brisbane football, but not for the Sydney Premiership. It was only when taken with the first grade squad to a pre-season tournament in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
at the insistence of Ken Arthurson that Vautin finally started to make Stanton take notice by being among Manly's top tacklers in the games he played. From there Vautin, who had since earned the nickname "Fatty" from former Manly dual Premiership winning captain Fred Jones, was selected on the bench for Manly's Craven Mild Cup pre-season games against Norths, Souths and Western Suburbs. After playing Reserve Grade for Manly in the opening round of the 1979 season, against
St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
at
Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...
, Vautin was chosen on the bench for First Grade, going on early when tough-tackling
Terry Randall Terry William "Igor" Randall (born 5 February 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Manly-Warringah club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership. He is regularly nam ...
came off injured. Although the reigning premiers ultimately lost 9–34 to that seasons eventual Premiers, Vautin played well enough to be called upon to take Randall's place in the side over the coming weeks, playing second row until Igor returned from injury in Round 6, then moving to his preferred lock for the remainder of the season. Vautin went on to play in grand finals with Manly in
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
and
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
, going down to Parramatta both times. In 1983 he was the Dally M Second Rower of the Year and the Dally M Representative Player of the Year. Vautin was named captain of Manly-Warringah in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
by coach
Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and commentated on the game with great success at the highest ...
. Vautin enjoyed success in leading Manly to an 18–8 victory over the
Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...
in the 1987 Grand Final, the last played at the
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...
. Before the 1987 season had started, the Manly club board had wanted Bob Fulton to install
1986 Kangaroo tour The 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the sixteenth Kangaroo tour in which the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Winfield Kangaroos due to sponsorship) plays a number of tour matches against British and Frenc ...
second rower
Noel Cleal Noel Harvey "Crusher" Cleal (born 16 October 1958) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A destructive for the Manly Sea Eagles, he also represented New South Wales in the State of Origin Series and the Austra ...
as club captain , replacing Vautin who had captained the side since 1985. Vautin won the Dally M Captain of the Year award for
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
. Following the grand final victory in 1987, he traveled with Manly to England for the
1987 World Club Challenge The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Ch ...
against their champions,
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
. The home side won a try-less game 8–2 at
Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
. During the match, Vautin was tackled over the sideline in front of the main grandstand. After easily being the best side in the Sydney competition during the year, and after the unbeaten 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, the Manly players later admitted to over-confidence and took the game far too lightly, treating the trip more as a holiday than anything serious and actually continued their grand final celebrations while in England.


St. Helens

Vautin and Manly teammate Michael O'Connor both signed to play for the Alex Murphy coached St. Helens during the 1988–89 Rugby Football League season on 2 August 1988. Vautin would go on to captain St. Helens in his last match for them, a 27–0 loss to Wigan in the 1989 Challenge Cup Final played on 29 April 1989 at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in front of 78,000 fans. It was the first time since 1952 that a team had been held scoreless. Vautin played 21 games for St. Helens in 1988–89 and made his début in English club rugby on 9 October 1988 in a 30–22 win over
Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...
at
Craven Park Craven Park may refer to: * Craven Park (Barrow), home of Barrow (rugby league) * Craven Park, Hull, current home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Old Craven Park, former home of Hull Kingston Rovers (rugby league) * Craven Park (London), a ...
in
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
.


Eastern Suburbs Roosters

He signed with the Eastern Suburbs Roosters for two years, where he even spent time in reserve grade after being dropped by coach Mark Murray - a former Queensland and Australian teammate, before retiring at the end of the
1991 NSWRL season The 1991 NSWRL season was the eighty-fourth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. This year the New South Wales Rugby League experimented with a Draft (sports), draft system for the first time. Sixteen clubs competed for th ...
. His last game for the out of contention Roosters was an 8-42 loss to eventual premiers Penrith at the
Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...
on 25 August, the final round of the season.


State of Origin

Vautin made his Origin début for the
Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...
in game 2 of the 1982 series. In 1984, Vautin and Manly teammate
Chris Close Christopher "Choppy" Close (born 5 February 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A robust three-quarter back, he represented Australia internationally and Queensland in S ...
became the last Queensland representative players to be selected for the annual NSW City vs NSW Country game, when he was selected in the second row for NSW City for the game at the SCG, won 38–12 by City. For the next nine years, he played for Queensland with the exception of
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
when he missed 3 months of the 1986 season after breaking his arm against Penrith in Round 8 of the season at Brookvale Oval. Game 1 of the 1990 series was Vautin's last game of State of Origin as he was dumped after Queensland lost 0–8 to NSW after having won both the previous two series 3–0.


International

Four years after making his senior representative debut against the touring 1978 Kiwis at Lang Park, Vautin made his test début for
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
in the first test against New Zealand at Lang Park in Brisbane under the coaching of his original Manly coach Frank Stanton (who by that time was coaching Balmain). However, after playing for Queensland and Australia, and helping Manly to second on the ladder and then into the grand final against minor premiers Parramatta, he was not selected for the end of season
1982 Kangaroo tour The 1982 Kangaroo tour was the fifteenth Kangaroo tour where the Australian national rugby league team played a number of matches against British and French rugby league teams, in addition to the Test matches. The Australia national rugby lea ...
(that team became the first to go through Great Britain and France undefeated, earning the nickname "The Invincibles"). His then Manly captain and the captain of the 1982 Kangaroos,
Max Krilich Max Krilich (born 25 October 1950 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a hooker for the Australia national team, playing in thirteen Tests from 1978 to 1983 and a ...
, later told that a comment Vautin had made earlier in 1982 about it being a greater honour to play for Queensland than it was Australia "may" have cost him a place on the
Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...
. He returned to the test team for Australia's mid-season tour to New Zealand in 1983, and in 1984 was selected for the second
Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...
Test against
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
at Lang Park, copping an accidental elbow to the face from replacement
Mick Adams Michael Adams (28 September 1951 – 9 March 2017) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for the Canterbury-Ban ...
as he tackled the Lions forward, resulting in a fractured cheekbone during the 18–6 win which saw Australia retain The Ashes. Vautin's injury kept him out of the third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and caused him to miss 11 games of the
1984 NSWRL season The 1984 New South Wales Rugby League season was the 77th season of competition between the top professional rugby league football clubs within New South Wales. With the departure from the first grade competition of Sydney foundation club the Ne ...
. Vautin played 13 test matches during his career, touring New Zealand twice in
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
and
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
. In addition to the thirteen tests he played for Australia, he played two tour games in New Zealand in 1985 and three tour games in 1989. Vautin was selected for Australia in their successful 1988 Ashes series against the
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
tourists. He then played from the bench in Australia's record 70–8 win in their final 1985–1988
Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams who each represent member nations of the International Rugby League who run and administer the tournament. The tournament has be ...
round game over
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
in
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...
, but despite some good end of season form for Manly ultimately missed selection for the World Cup Final where Australia defeated New Zealand 25–12 at the
Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...
stadium 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 ...
. Vautin was the vice-captain of Australia's mid-season tour of New Zealand in 1989, captaining the team in three tour games (Wally Lewis was the tour and test captain). Vautin captained the Australian team (now coached by Bob Fulton) to a 50–18 win over a New Zealand XIII at the
Palmerston North Showgrounds Central Energy Trust Arena is the current name of the 180,000 square meter publicly owned recreational complex just west of the Palmerston North city center in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. It has three linked indoor stadiu ...
in the opening game of the tour. He would later captain the side in another tour game against
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 ...
for the only loss of the tour, the Australians surprised 26–24 at
Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 19 ...
(the Kangaroos first non-test loss since the Bob Fulton captained, Frank Stanton coached
1978 Kangaroo tour The 1978 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France comprised the Australia national rugby league team's fourteenth tour of Great Britain and ninth tour of France and took place from September to December 1978. Coached by Frank Stanton and capt ...
ists lost to 10–11
Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
), before captaining the team from the unfamiliar position of for a 28–10 win over
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
at the
Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...
. During his career, Vautin often had to compete with players such as
Ray Price Noble Ray Price (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as prope ...
,
Wayne Pearce Wayne John Pearce (born 29 March 1960 in Balmain, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. A for the Balmain Tigers, he was known as Junior. Pearce represented New South Wales in the State of Or ...
and fellow Queenslander
Bob Lindner Bob Lindner (born 10 November 1962) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s. An Australia national and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he is ...
for the Australian Lock-forward position, and as such was often selected in the second row. Of his 13 test matches, Vautin played 7 in the second row, 5 at lock and one, the win over PNG in 1988, from the bench. His final test, a 22–14 win over New Zealand at the
Mount Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...
in Auckland in the first game of the 1989–1992 World Cup, saw him wearing his favoured No.13 (lock) jumper.


Coaching career

Loyal to his Channel Nine employer, Vautin was a vocal supporter of the
Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
-backed
Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...
during the
Super League war The Super League war was a commercial competition between the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the Australian Super League to establish pre-eminence in professional rugby league competition in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Sup ...
which started in 1995. With only limited coaching experience having coached the Brisbane Capitols to the
Winfield State League The Winfield State League was a rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It was administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was the QRL's parallel to the NSWRL's Amco Cup knockout and ran alongside the Brisbane ...
championship in 1992 (winning all 5 games), he was considered an inferior replacement for dual premiership winning coach Wayne Bennett who was originally named to return as coach of the 1995 Queensland State of Origin team (Bennett had previously coached the Maroons from 1986-1988), and with Queensland having lost the last three consecutive series and being given a handful of young and inexperienced players, Vautin and Queensland were expected to be easy prey for NSW, who could still boast almost half a side of international players as well as Origin and dual premiership winning coach Phil Gould. However, his representative coaching début took a fairy tale turn when the young Maroons, without any of the stars from
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
-aligned clubs (most notably the Wayne Bennett coached
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
), completed a 3–0 series whitewash of New South Wales that year. With the Super League players available for selection in the
1996 State of Origin series The 1996 State of Origin series saw the 15th time that the annual three-game series between the Queensland and New South Wales representative rugby league football teams was contested entirely under ' state of origin' selection rules. This series ...
, Queensland were rated a chance of retaining their crown but lost the series 0–3. After losing the 1997 series 1–2, Vautin was replaced as Queensland coach the following year by Wayne Bennett.


Post-rugby league career

In 2000, Vautin was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...
for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.


Commentary

After Manly had been knocked out of the finals series, Paul Vautin made his television commentary début during the 1988 NSWRL Grand Final with the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
alongside long time caller David Morrow. Vautin's introduction to television commentary did not go to plan though as he thought they were pre-recording the introduction to the game and dropped the "F-bomb", only to find out that it was in fact being broadcast live around Australia. Vautin was then signed by the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
and has been a regular commentator for
Nine's Wide World of Sports ''Nine's Wide World of Sports'' is a long running sports anthology brand on Australian television that airs on the Nine Network and streaming service Stan. All major sports, events and series covered by the network are broadcast under this br ...
' coverage of rugby league matches alongside
Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...
and Peter Sterling since 1992. On 1 December 2024, Vautin announced this retirement from commentating, thus ending his tenure at Channel 9. He had claimed that he had 'run out of petrol' but was known for some of his comments towards the direction that the game was going in, especially during the 2024 State of Origin series.


The Footy Show

Vautin has hosted ''
The NRL Footy Show ''The Footy Show'' was an Australian sports variety television program covering professional rugby league in Australia. It was shown on the Nine Network and aired for 25 seasons. For the final season in 2018, the show was hosted by journalist Eri ...
'' since 1994, propelling him to TV stardom. He suffered a serious
concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...
in 2005 filming for the show in a segment called "Dare-Devil Dudes", when he hit his head on concrete, with a helmet luckily minimising the damage. He did not host for a period of about 10 weeks. From 1992 to 2004, he was a mainstay of the Channel Nine match commentary team along with Peter Sterling and
Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...
, calling club, Origin and international games. Since the concussion incident, he had focussed on his ''Footy Show'' appearances but was still part of the broader Nine expert commentary team for big fixtures like the State of Origin. Speculation existed that 2017 would be Vautin's last season as host of ''The Footy Show''. In October 2017, Vautin was axed from The Footy Show.


References


Sources

*Colman, Mike (1992) ''Fatty: The Strife and Times of Paul Vautin'', Ironbark Press, Sydney *Vautin, Paul: ''Turn It Up! The life and thoughts of Paul "Fatty" Vautin''; Pan Publishing, Sydney, 1995. A collection of articles Vautin has written between late 1993 (including his appearance and well-publicised catch in an all-stars cricket match in Queensland) and the end of 1993, covering some of his past and views on current events of the time. *Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney *Big League, ''State of Origin 25 Years Collectors Edition 1980–2005'', News Magazines, Sydney


External links

* *
Saints.orgPaul Vautin at Silvertails.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vautin, Paul 1959 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league commentators Australian rugby league players Australian television presenters Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Nine's Wide World of Sports People educated at Padua College (Brisbane) Queensland Rugby League State of Origin captains Queensland Rugby League State of Origin coaches Queensland Rugby League State of Origin players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Brisbane Rugby league second-rows St Helens R.F.C. captains St Helens R.F.C. players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Sydney Roosters players Wests Panthers players City New South Wales rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen