From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul "Fatty" Vautin (born July 21, 1959), is an Australian former rugby league player, coach and, more recently, a media personality. In the year 2000 Paul was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

Contents 1 Rugby league playing career 1.1 Club career 1.2 State of Origin honours 1.3 National selection 1.4 Matches played 2 Coaching career 3 Post-Football Career 3.1 The Footy Show 3.2 Sam and the Fatman 3.3 Fatty's Catch 4 Sources

Vautin made his name in the 1980's playing for the Wests Panthers in Brisbane, the Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney, Queensland in the State of Origin and the Australia national rugby league team. He finished his playing career with the Roosters.

At each club he played, Vautin was a determined and whole-hearted footballer, though perhaps underrated during his club career. He played at either Lock or Second Row and was a defensive workaholic who would crop up in a movement when least expected due to his mobility, on-field stamina and sharp football brain. In 1983 he was voted the Dally M Player's Player of the year, as well as Representative Player of the Year. He played in losing Grand Finals with Manly in 1982-83 but later enjoyed success in leading the club to victory in the 1987 Grand Final and was named Dally M Captain of the Year.

It was at the State of Origin level where "Fatty" Vautin's performances were most notable. Vautin himself has commented on the passion that would be ignited whenever he pulled on his State representative jumper. He came on as a replacement in game II of 1982 scoring a try that swung the game for Queensland. For the next nine years he was a regular in those star-studded Queensland sides and produced many inspirational performances over 22 games, often as vice-captain to Wally Lewis. He led the Queensland side in the first games of the 1988 and 1990 series.

Vautin first played for Australia in 1982 in the First Test against New Zealand and next returned in 1984 in the second Test against Great Britain. He played 13 Tests during his career touring New Zealand twice. He was unlucky to never tour Great Britain with the Kangaroos when he broke his arm at the end of the 1986 season. He played thirteen Tests for Australia plus three tour games in 1985 and 1989.

Team	Matches	Years	Tries
Brisbane Wests	?	1977 - 1978
Manly Warringah	121	1979 - 1989	20
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	34	1990 - 1991	1
Queensland	22	1982 - 1990	2
Australia (Tests)	13	1982 - 1989	0

Loyal to his Channel Nine employer, Vautin was a vocal supporter of the Packer backed ARL during the Super League defections in 1995. He was considered a left-field selection as coach of the 1995 Queensland State of Origin team and being given a handful of young and inexperienced players was expected to be on the losing side. Vautin's coaching debut took a fairy tale turn when the young Queenslanders completed a 3-0 series whitewash that year. He was replaced by Wayne Bennett after then losing successive series in 1996 and 1997.

Preceded by Wally Lewis 1993-1994

Coach Queensland State of Origin 1995-1997

Succeeded by Wayne Bennett 1998

Vautin has hosted The Footy Show with Peter Sterling since 1994, propelling him to TV stardom. The show is popular in the rugby league following states, New South Wales and Queensland.

He 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. He did not host for a period of 10 or so weeks. [1] Fortunately, Vautin later returned in the 2005 season of the Footy Show, but has vowed not to do any more stupid stunts.

From 1994 to 2004 he was a mainstay of the Channel Nine match commentary team along with Sterling and Ray Warren. Since the concussion incident he has focussed on his Footy Show appearances but currently is still part of the broader Nine expert commentary team for big fixtures like the State of Origin.

In 1999 he co-hosted a post-football season show with Australian rules football commentator Sam Newman, called "Sam and the Fatman". It was a short-lived variety style show.

In the 1994 cricket exhibition match celebrating the playing career of Allan Border, Vautin took one of the flukiest catches ever seen in any form of cricket. The catch was replayed ad nauseum on the Nine Network, and has since also been parodied by The Twelfth Man. Partially due to this parody it is sometimes referred to as "That Catch". The catch can be seen here.

• Colman, Mike (1992) Fatty: The Strife and Times of Paul Vautin, Ironbark Press, Sydney
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League, Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Big League, State of Origin 25 Years Collectors Edition 1980-2005, News Magazines, Sydney
• Player Profile at stateoforigin.com.au