Robert Rawiri Hunter-Paul (born 3 February 1976) is a New Zealand former

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. He has since become a business owner and television pundit, runnin
Xtra Mile Marketing
an inbound and digital marketing company. Robbie retired from playing at the end of the 2011 season following a 19-season career with the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Harlequin FC Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of ...

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

, Salford City Reds and the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

. He then spent just under 2 years as business development manager at the

, and 3 years as CEO at the

. Robbie played for the

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 ...

Kiwis national team from 1997 - 2006. He is the younger brother of former

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours ar ...

and England Rugby player Henry Paul.

Background

Born in

Tokoroa Tokoroa is the fourth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua and 20 km south of Putāruru, close to the foot of th ...

, New Zealand, his junior club was the

Te Atatu Roosters The Te Atatu Roosters is a rugby league club based in Te Atatū Peninsula, Te Atatū, New Zealand. They participate in the Auckland Rugby League competition. They currently have 25 teams across schoolboy, junior and senior grades. The Roosters ...

in West Auckland. His mother, Gail, is of English descent and his father, Te Whata, known as Walter, is Maori (NZ indigenous).

Playing career

Club career

In the 1994 Lion Red Cup he played 11 games for the Waitakere City Raiders, scoring three tries.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1994. p.121

Bradford Bulls

Paul joined

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

in July 1994 from New Zealand at the age of 18 and has since gone on to represent

. He made his debut for Bradford after months languishing in the reserves. When Super League and summer rugby arrived, so did Australian coach Brian Smith, who made Paul captain. In the semi-final of the 1996 Challenge Cup, Bradford shocked traditional foes Leeds at Huddersfield. Paul captained Bradford at scrum half back in the

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 g ...

Final and became the fourth player ever to achieve what was a Challenge Cup final record of three tries, being awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match. He was the 1996 Bradford Bulls season's top try scorer and still holds the record for most tries scored for the Bulls. Paul played for

as his brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

's halves partner in the

1999 Super League Grand Final The 1999 Super League Grand Final was the Second official Grand Final conclusive and championship-deciding game of the Super League IV season. The match was played between St. Helens and Bradford Bulls on Saturday 9 October 1999, at Old Traffor ...

which was lost to

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

Paul played for the

as his brother

's halves partner in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. As Super League VI champions, the Bulls played against 2001 NRL Premiers, 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 2002 World Club Challenge. Paul captained at stand-off half back and scored two tries in Bradford's victory. Paul played for

at stand-off half back, scoring a try in their 2002 Super League Grand Final loss against St Helens. Robbie Paul

Paul captained the Bulls to the "Treble" in 2003. He played for the

from the interchange bench in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the

. He captained the Bulls to victory against Australian side

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 ...

in the 2004 World Club Challenge. He played for the

at in their 2004 Super League Grand Final loss against the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. The following year he played for the

from the interchange bench in their

2005 Super League Grand Final The 2005 Super League Grand Final was the 8th official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League X season. Held on Saturday 15 October 2005, at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradfo ...

victory against the

. His Bradford Bulls testimonial was played on 27 January 2006 against

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 ...

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

. He has been included in Bradford's; 'Millennium Masters', 'Bull Masters', and in August 2007 he was named in the 'Team of the Century'. Only six players have been included in all three lists. Robbie Paul was voted the 1996 Super League Player of the season at 20 years of age.

Huddersfield Giants

At the start of 2006's

Super League XI Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X. The competition kicked off the weekend after ...

, Paul moved from

to fellow

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

side

. He played at scrum half back in his

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, Franc ...

Final in August. Despite scoring a second-half try, his side lost 42–12 to

Twickenham stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

Salford City Reds

In September 2007, it was announced that he had signed for the Salford City Reds on a two-year deal. This was seen as something of a coup for the club, as they had just been relegated from the Super League. Robbie Paul Leigh

Leigh Centurions

He signed with

Co-operative Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) after the Super League. Intr ...

side

for the 2010 season. He retired at the end of the 2011 season.

Harlequins

Paul went into his winter loan spell with rugby union club Harlequins in 1996 and 1997.

International career

Paul was selected for the New Zealand team to compete in the end of season

1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations The 1999 Rugby League Tri-Nations series was contested by Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand in 1999. It was the first multi-national rugby league tournament to feature the sport's three world powers since the 1989–1992 Rugby League Wor ...

tournament. In the final against

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 ...

he partnered his brother Henry in the halves, kicking six goals in the Kiwis' 22–20 loss.

Music

In 2000, alongside his brother

and Lazarus, he released a single with his band Massey, named after the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in New Zealand where the Paul brothers grew up. They had played a couple of dates by the end of 2000 and previously released a cover version of "

Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979 disco song performed by American R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album '' McFadden & Whitehead'' (1979). They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen. Background "A ...

" in 1999.

Media career

He used to host the weekly rugby league show 'The RHP Show' every Wednesday at 6pm on West Yorkshire's pulse 2 Radio Station. His contract was terminated in 2019 Robbie Hunter-Paul regularly appears on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's rugby league coverage including the

Super League Show The ''Super League Show'' was a weekly television programme showing highlights from the Super League. The show was initially presented by Harry Gration, and from 2012 was presented by Tanya Arnold. Match commentary came from Dave Woods, Matt ...

and the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

games.

Personal life

On 17 December 2010, he married Natalie Hunter in Auckland, New Zealand, at a ceremony attended by many of the world's greatest rugby players and duly changed his surname to incorporate "Hunter".

References

;Bibliography * Hodgson, Phil. ''Odsal Odysseys – The History of Bradford Rugby League''. Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK: Vertical Edition, 2006. . * Hunter-Paul, Robbie with Irvine, Chris. ''Robbie Rugby Warrior''. Great Northern Books, 2012, .

External links

Robbie Paul player profile from GiantsRL.com

Passion for Sport 2001

The Millennium Masters – SubstitutesBull Masters – Robbie PaulTeam Of The Century
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter-Paul, Robbie 1976 births Living people BBC sports presenters and reporters Bradford Bulls captains Bradford Bulls players Harlequin F.C. players Huddersfield Giants players Junior Kiwis players Lance Todd Trophy winners Leigh Leopards captains Leigh Leopards players Te Atatu Roosters players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand rugby league players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Tokoroa Rugby union players from Tokoroa Salford Red Devils players Waitakere rugby league team players