NRLW 2020: Christine Pauli, sister of NRL’s Pauli Pauli, with St George Dragons
She’s the sister of a former NRL gun passionate about rugby league. But when she got a call from a coach to talk about playing herself she thought he had rung the wrong person.
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When Christine Pauli got a call to ask her if she wanted to sign a contract for the Dragons to play NRLW she thought coach Daniel Lacey had accidentally rung the wrong number.
He hadn’t.
Lacey, one of the top women’s rugby league coaches in the world, wanted the young forward in his pack for the 2020 season which kicks off this weekend.
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“I paused and asked ‘are you sure you are calling the right person’. He just laughed and said yes,” said Pauli, a Mt Druitt factory worker who played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the Harvey Norman women’s premiership which finished on the weekend.
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“It hit me hard. I went really serious. It didn’t feel real.
“I could wait to tell mum the Dragons coach called my number.”
Pauli said her parents, Sili and Lupe, had originally both been against her playing rugby league because they we worried she would be hurt.
“It broke my heart but at school I took it with two hands and then they let me play for school and then it was club footy and then it just explode,” said Pauli, who has played for the Penrith Brothers and Mounties in recent times.
“After a few good games they jumped aboard. They are my biggest fans.”
One of nine children, Pauli said her brother, who is six years older, always supported her love for the game he also plays.
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Pauli Pauli is currently with the Selford Red Devils in Super League in the UK, previously playing for both the Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
“He’s always been my biggest supporter,” Pauli said.
“He used to say when I was young he could see me making the NRL, and that was before there was even NRLW, and that made me more determined to play.”
It’s been tough because they are very spiritual. I’m very grateful they support the requirements. It is hard for me to see them stop what they love
While Pauli has taken time off from her job packing in a Hello Fresh warehouse to take up her contract, her family have also been asked to make sacrifices due to COVID-19.
“It’s been approved for me to stay at home but they asked mum and dad not to go to church every Sunday which helps with the isolating,” she said.
“It’s been tough because they are very spiritual. I’m very grateful they support the requirements.
“It is hard for me to see them stop what they love.”
A number of her teammates have been forced out of home to satisfy COVID-19 bubble protocols.
Bio security requirements will see NRLW players operating separately from the men’s teams during their competition which kicks off on October 3.
The Dragons’ 2020 22-woman squad is headlined by Australia Jillaroos duo Steph Hancock and Isabelle Kelly, PNG Orchids skipper Elsie Albert and Kezie Apps and Sam Bremner.
Dragons open their campaign against the Roosters.
THE DRAGONS SQUAD:
Elsie Albert, Kezie Apps, Shaylee Bent, Teagan Berry, Sam Bremner, Jaime Chapman, Keeley Davis, Jade Etherden, Aaliyah Fasavalu-Fa’amausili, Steph Hancock, Talei Holmes, Rikeya Horne, Ellie Johnston, Isabelle Kelly, Mahalia Murphy, Georgia Page, Christine Pauli, Tiana Penitani, Jessica Sergis, Maddie Studdon, Shakiah Tungai, Maddison Weatherall.