Mickey Paea
Encyclopedia
Mickey Paea is an Australian rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player of Tongan descent who currently plays for the Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers or Hull KR is an English professional rugby league football club based in Hull, England. The club formed in 1882 and currently competes in Super League, having won promotion from National League One in 2006...

 in the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 competition.

Playing career

Michey Paea began playing rugby league at a young age for the Minto Cobras.Whilst in year 12 at Sarah Redfern High Paea received his first NRL contract with the Sydney Roosters along with fellow Sarah Redfern student class mate and current NRL player Michael Lett.Paea made his first grade debut for the Roosters against the Cronulla Sharks
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

 at Toyota Park on 17 June 2005.

Roosters

Although only playing 4 games for the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

 in 2007 he was still the best player for Roosters feeder club Newtown Jets
Newtown Jets
The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...

 winning Newtowns best player and the premier leagues best forward.

Dragons and Bulldogs

On 16 September 2008 it was announced that Paea will join the St. George Illawarra Dragons for 2009. He made his Dragons first grade debut in Townsville on May 9, 2009 against the Cowboys.

Paea was the subject of a controversial racial vilification dispute with Cronulla Sharks
Cronulla Sharks
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

 Captain, Paul Gallen
Paul Gallen
Paul Gallen is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks of the National Rugby League. Gallen's position of choice is lock and occasionally at Prop. He is an Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative...

, late in the local derby played between the Dragons and Sharks on 23 May 2009. Gallen, who took objection to Paea accidentally stepping on his hand in a tackle, got up and called Paea a "black c***". Paea's angry response was caught by television cameras and microphones, but he did not wish to take the matter further after the match. "But then something told me to just forget about it and to just move on. Things happen on the field and you don't want to get too personal about it. But I've been getting different kinds of reactions. After the game I had my church friends sending me messages saying, `You handled it really well, it was very Kingdom the way you dealt with it'.

"Then I had other mates saying, `You should have smashed him'.

Nevertheless, the NRL stepped in themselves and issued a $10,000 fine to Gallen, and the Cronulla Sharks have revealed that they are likely to strip him of the club captaincy.

Bulldogs add grunt with snaring Paea

The Bulldogs have further strengthened their roster for 2010 with the signing of tough prop Mickey Paea from rivals the St George Illawarra Dragons
St George Illawarra Dragons
The St George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing the St. George and Illawarra regions. They have competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 as a joint venture between Sydney's historic St. George Dragons club and 1982 expansion club, the...

 for 2 seasons. Paea whom has played a handful of games for the Dragons in 2009 was pleased to be joining the Bulldogs on a 2 year deal and looks forward to pushing for a starting spot although he faces stiff competition with Bulldogs props Ben Hannant
Ben Hannant
Benjamin Hannant is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Brisbane Broncos of the NRL...

, Michael Hodgson
Michael Hodgson
Michael Hodgson is a professional rugby league player for the Canterbury Bulldogs in the Australian National Rugby League competition. He primarily plays in the second row and previously played for the Parramatta Eels and the Canberra Raiders.While attending St...

, Chris Armit
Chris Armit
Chris Armit is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the National Rugby League. He has also previously played for the Parramatta Eels...

 and Jarrad Hickey
Jarrad Hickey
Jarrad Hickey is a rugby league player for Harlequins RL in the European Super League.Previously with Canterbury Bulldogs he played several games for the club in 2006 off the bench. He is eligible for Ireland. Hickey has been given the nickname OAF, Hickman and Luva by Bulldogs supporters.He used...

 all performing well for the top 2 team.

The signing of Mickey Paea comes on top of the signing of Cronulla halfback Blake Green
Blake Green
Blake Green is a rugby league player for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League.Blake Green's position of choice is as a half-back....

 who inked a 2 year deal with the belmore club last Friday as well as the star signing of NSW and Premiership winner Steve Turner from the Melbourne Storm
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....

 and Panthers young winger Junior Tia-Kilifi
Junior Tia-Kilifi
Junior Tia-Kilifi is a rugby league player who currently plays for the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League, and previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He is a Samoan international. Tia-Kilifi usually plays on the wing or as a centre...

.

He is the Brother of Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...

 Player Lopini Paea
Lopini Paea
Lopini Paea is an Australian rugby league player of Tongan descent who currently plays for the Catalans Dragons in the European Super League. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League...

 & Lelea Paea
Lelea Paea
Lelea Paea born is an Australian rugby union player of Tongan descent who currently plays for the Coca Cola West Red Sparks. He usually plays Centre, but has played in Wing at times throughout his career...


Tonga

In 2005 he made his international debut for Tonga against Samoa and since then has played superbly in all 9 internationals for the Tongan side.

In August 2008, Mickey Paea was named in the Tonga training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup
2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

, and in October 2008 he was named in the final 24-man Tonga squad.

External links

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