27 Facts About Paul Vautin

Paul Vautin has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and hosted The Footy Show from its beginnings in 1994 opposite co-host Peter Sterling, until 2017.

An Australian Kangaroos test and Queensland 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, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership.

Paul Vautin played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St Helens.

Paul Vautin played for the Wests Panthers in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Sydney, St Helens in England, Queensland in the State of Origin and the Australia national rugby league team.

Paul Vautin finished his playing career with Sydney club the Eastern Suburbs Roosters in 1991.

Paul Vautin was graded as an 18-year-old by Brisbane Rugby League club Wests as a Lock in 1978, sometimes playing opposite another talented young lock from Valley's destined for future greatness as a Five-eighth named Wally Lewis.

Paul 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, and moved from Brisbane to play for the defending NSWRFL premiers starting in 1979.

Paul Vautin's 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.

Paul Vautin went on to play in grand finals with Manly in 1982 and 1983, going down to Parramatta both times.

Paul Vautin was named captain of Manly-Warringah in 1985 by coach Bob Fulton.

Paul Vautin won the Dally M Captain of the Year award for 1987.

Paul Vautin 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.

Paul Vautin made his Origin debut for the Maroons in game 2 of the 1982 series.

Four years after making his senior representative debut against the touring 1978 Kiwis at Lang Park, Paul Vautin made his test debut for Australia in 1982 in the first test against New Zealand at Lang Park in Brisbane under the coaching of his original Manly coach Frank Stanton.

Paul 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.

Paul Vautin played 13 test matches during his career, touring New Zealand twice in 1985 and 1989.

Paul Vautin was selected for Australia in their successful 1988 Ashes series against the Great Britain tourists.

Paul Vautin was the vice-captain of Australia's mid-season tour of New Zealand in 1989, captaining the team in three tour games.

Loyal to his Channel Nine employer, Paul Vautin was a vocal supporter of the Kerry Packer-backed Australian Rugby League during the Super League war which started in 1995.

In 2000, Paul Vautin was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

Paul Vautin was then signed by the Nine Network and has been a regular commentator for Nine's Wide World of Sports' coverage of rugby league matches alongside Ray Warren and Peter Sterling since 1992.

On 1 December 2024, Paul Vautin announced this retirement from commentating, thus ending his tenure at Channel 9.

Paul Vautin 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.

Paul Vautin has hosted The NRL Footy Show since 1994, propelling him to TV stardom.

Paul Vautin suffered a serious concussion 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.

Paul Vautin did not host for a period of about 10 weeks.

In October 2017, Paul Vautin was axed from The Footy Show.