Paul Rauhihi

The career of this tough Wellington forward, graded by the Warriors as a 22 year-old in 1996, was put on hold while he served in the NZ Navy. Rauhihi shifted to Newcastle in 1999 and represented NZ Maori in the 2000 World Cup. He made his Kiwi Test debut against Australia after shifting to the Bulldogs in 2001 but really came into his own as an on-field leader with the North Queensland North Queensland in 2003-04. The North Queensland ‘Player of the Year’ in 2003, Rauhihi provided much of fire-power that led to the club making its historic appearance in the finals the following year. A member of the NZ 2004’s Tri Nations squad, he also represented the ANZacs team against Cumbria before captaining his country in the last Test of the competition – the 24-22 loss to Great Britain. Rauhihi left the club after the North Queensland loss in the 2005 grand final and joined English club Warrington following NZ’s shock win over Australia in the Tri-Nations final.