Ugly truth before Paul Vautin dropped bomb on NRL

There were obvious signs Paul Vautin was not happy leading up to his retirement bombshell that nobody saw coming.

Paul Vautin dropped one final bomb on the NRL as he farewelled the game on Sunday.

The rugby league cult hero was celebrated across every corner of the sport after confirming his TV career is over after 33 years in front of the camera.

The larrikin commentator known as “Fatty” said he had “run out of petrol” to continue his job with Channel 9 into 2025.

Vautin’s retirement interview with the Sydney Morning Herald included one statement that should leave NRL officials squirming.

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The 65-year-old has raised plenty of eyebrows with his apparent suggestion that he is walking away because he does not like the direction the game is going down with recent rule changes.

“The players are unbelievable, but there are things about it now that irritate me, like the six again and dropouts that are contested,” he said.

“I don’t want to become that cranky old guy who complains about a sport that made him what he is.”

Paul Vautin doesn't like what he is seeing. Photo: Supplied.

One quick look at Vautin’s recent comments show exactly how unhappy he was with the sport he loves as he reportedly began considering retirement following the Panthers’ 2024 Grand Final triumph.

The former Footy Show host has made countless headlines in recent years complaining about tackling techniques, rule changes and the game’s never-ending video referee crisis.

He was notably filthy when Queensland’s Felise Kaufusi was sent to the sin bin for a controversial ruck-infringement during State of Origin Game 2 in June.

“It is a gee up,” he said.

“No-one knows what they are for. No-one here knows. No-one at home knows. We don’t know and we’re so called experts.”

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing in the series decider when Queensland’s Jeremiah Nanai and NSW forward Cameron Murray were both sent to the sin bin after a scuffle between Jarome Luai and Daly Cherry-Evans exploded into an all-in brawl.

Cameron Murray wrestles Queensland players. NRL photos

Leading into the series opener Vautin was one of many high-profile figures critical of Maroons coach Billy Slater’s selection tactics when the former Melbourne Storm star selected Broncos centre Selwyn Cobbo on the bench.

“Forwards win Origin games. They do all the hard work,” he said at the time.

A week later he was eating humble pie.

After watching Cobbo play a significant part in the series-opening win, Vautin said after the game Slater was “a million times smarter” than himself.

“Billy is a genius,” he told Channel 9.

“Earlier in the week, I said I’m old school, I think forwards win Origin and I would have had another big forward on the bench instead of Selwyn.

“Billy Slater just showed he’s a million times smarter than I am by selecting Selwyn Cobbo.”

Vautin was widely criticised after the game over comments he made showing support for NSW winger Joseph Suaalii when the former Roosters star almost took Reece Walsh’s head off with a sickening tackle.

Walsh was knocked unconscious and Suaalii was sent off for the rest of the game.

“Here is the thing, Suaalii thinks he is going to hit him in the chest,” Vautin said.

Two of the greatest to ever do it. AAP Image/Steve Pohlner.

“Reece Walsh ducks down and all of a sudden he gets hit in the head. It’s reckless and careless but it’s not deliberate. Personally, I don’t think it’s a send off.

“At this level, we always say there’s a bit of leeway in Origin, I believe he should have been left on. But in saying that, Queensland have lost a player for the whole game. So the referee has probably gone ‘well, he’s gone, I may as well get rid of this guy’.”

Those comments angered plenty.

The Roar’s Tony Harper on Twitter described Vautin as a “dinosaur”.

“The state of these f***ing dinosaurs commentating rugby league,” he wrote.

Another fan wrote: “And thanks to Paul Vautin for calling in from 1985, to announce that wouldn’t have been a send-off when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.”

Vautin was again clearly flummoxed in May when Manly’s Tom Trbojevic was awarded a penalty by the video referee when Jesse Bromwich made incidental contact with the Sea Eagles star as he was playing the ball.

“Are you serious? Our game is finished,” Vautin said on Channel 9.

“It is finished if you are penalising that. Honestly. I bet you the bloke who made that decision has never stepped on to a football field. What a stitch-up.”

He went on to say after the game: “It was embarrassing for the game.”.

“There is not one player in the last 116 years who would say that’s a penalty. This little tiny hand on the face, it was absolutely nothing.

“Gerard Sutton, he’s a very experienced referee, been around quite a while — I can’t see how he could find fault in that. That is just wrong. I can’t even talk about it, it was that bad. It was awful.”

When Parramatta’s Maiko Sivo was penalised for a high shot while making what appeared to be a miraculous try-saver, Vautin wasn’t a fan of the video referee again.

“Turn it up — that’ll do me,” he said.

“I am without speech, I am speechless.”

He was clearly shaking his head again after watching Panthers forward James Fisher-Harris put on report for a bone-rattling hit on Broncos star Kotoni Staggs in May.

Fisher-Harris was penalised for a textbook tackle that jolted Staggs from under the ribs.

Vautin did not hide his frustration while commentating on Channel 9.

“So it’s unnecessary forceful contact up into the ribs. So now we’re trying to take the physicality out of the game,” he said.

“For 120 years – or whatever it is – that’s been fair game. The bloke is standing up and the coach is saying, ‘If you see a bloke standing there then you get him. You get him in the ribs’. Now it’s unnecessary forceful contact. That will do me.”

A few months later, the former Queensland Origin coach is done for good.

He leaves behind a legacy as one of the most loved and respected commentators in the game.

Originally published as Ugly truth before Paul Vautin dropped bomb on NRL