Nouata Pauli Pauli (born 4 August 1994) is an Australian 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 plays as a or forward for the

Doncaster RLFC Doncaster Rugby League Football Club is a professional rugby league, rugby league football club, based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Keepmoat Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Champion ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. He previously played for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

and 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 ...

in the

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 ...

. Pauli played for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the

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 ...

and spent time in 2019 on loan from

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

at the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

in the Super League. He also has played for the New South Wales City side.

Background

Pauli was born in

Silverdale, New South Wales Silverdale is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. Approximately 30 minutes from the city of Camden, New South Wales, Camden, Silverdale is close to the historic township of Warragamba, and the main water supply for ...

, Australia, and is of Samoan descent. He played his junior rugby league for the

Hills District Bulls The Hills District Bulls is an Australian rugby league football club. It plays in the Parramatta District junior league based in at Crestwood Oval. They have played in the Parramatta District since 1964. They field teams in all age groups in ...

, before being signed by the

Playing career

Early career

From 2012 to 2014, Pauli played for the Parramatta Eels' NYC team. In August 2012, he played for the Australian Schoolboys. On 5 July 2013, he re-signed with the Eels on a two-year contract.

2014

In February, Pauli played for the Eels in the inaugural

NRL Auckland Nines The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Per ...

. In Round 4, he made his

debut for the Parramatta club against Penrith, playing off the interchange bench in Parramatta's 32–16 win at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta E ...

. In round 8 against 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 ...

1300SMILES Stadium The Willows Sports Complex (last known as 1300SMILES Stadium due to naming rights) was a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was used predominantly as a rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Que ...

, he scored his first NRL career try in Parramatta's 14–42 loss. On 3 May 2014, he played for the

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 ...

under-20s team against the

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 ...

under-20s team, playing in New South Wales' 30–8 win at

Penrith Stadium Penrith Stadium, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthe ...

. He finished off his debut year in the NRL having played in 17 matches and scoring three tries for Parramatta. On 8 September 2014, he was named in the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

train-on squad for the 2014 Four Nations, but did not make the final 23-man squad.

2015

On 31 January and 1 February, Pauli again played in the

. On 11 July, he re-signed with the Parramatta club on a two-year contract. He finished off the 2015 season having played in 16 matches for Parramatta.

2016

On 29 January, Pauli signed a two-year contract with the

starting effective immediately, after being released from the final two years of his Parramatta contract. In February, he played for the Knights in the

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

In round 1, he made his club debut for Newcastle against 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 ...

, playing off the interchange bench in the 12–30 loss at Cbus Super Stadium. In round 12 against his former club Parramatta, he scored his first try for Newcastle outfit. He finished the 2016 season having played in 15 matches and scoring one try.

2017

Pauli was involved in a seven-car pileup on the M1 Pacific Motorway on 18 January 2017, suffering a dislocated hip and was taken to

Gosford Hospital Gosford Hospital is a state owned public hospital in Gosford, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) which is a division of New South Wales Ministry of Health. Gosford Hospital provides a range ...

. Whilst continuing his recovery, he featured for the Newcastle side in the

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Pauli made his representative debut for the New South Wales City side in the final

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Syd ...

match. After continuing to build up fitness in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW, Pauli's season was ended in July after fracturing his

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

in a match. The injury prevented him from playing another game for the Knights as he was not offered a new contract beyond 2017. On 22 November 2017, it was announced that Pauli had signed a one-year contract with English

side

with the option of extending for a further season.

2019

On 14 May 2019, Pauli joined fellow

team

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

on a months loan, swapping with Salford Junior Sau. He joined Salford club ahead of the

2020 Super League season Super League XXV, known as the 2020 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the Super League and 126th season of rugby league in Great Britain. St Helens were the reigning champions going into Super League XXV. At ...

2020

On 17 October 2020, he played in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final defeat for Salford against Leeds 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 ...

2021

On 25 June 2021 he played for the Combined Nations All Stars in their 26–24 victory over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, two g ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, as part of England's

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received � ...

preparation.

2022

On 25 October 2021, it was reported that he had signed for York RLFC in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

2023

On 13 November 2023, it was announced that Pauli would be departing York. On 17 November 2023, it was reported that he had signed for

in the

on a two-year deal for the 2024 season.

References

External links

Wakefield Trinity profileNRL profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pauli, Pauli 1994 births Living people Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Australian rugby league players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players New South Wales City Origin rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Salford Red Devils players Wakefield Trinity players Wentworthville Magpies players York Knights players 21st-century Australian sportsmen