This Sporting Wife

The incredible former NRL player Paul Whatuira (Warriors, Panthers, Wests Tigers, Eels) sat down with Shannon and Fiona to talk through a career full of highs and lows. The two-time premiership winner explains how he made his way from a small town in New Zealand (that is absolutely bursting with sports talent it seems) to the Warriors, Melbourne, Brisbane and the bright lights of Sydney. A bit of luck and a helluva lot of hard work earned him two titles (Penrith 2003 and Tigers 2005) and he talks about some of the big names and amazing talents he’s played alongside during his career - from Billy Slater and Cam Smith before they made their debuts through to Benji Marshall, Tony Puletua and Craig Gower in they hey days. And what did he say when a fresh-faced Cooper Cronk said he’d see him in the NRL? He talks frankly about hitting rock bottom while playing for Huddersfield and going into psychosis that led to him being hospitalised in a psychiatric ward and ultimately retiring from the game (save for one match