History
Bull Masters - Robbie Paul
When Robbie arrived at Odsal in July 1994, neither we nor he could of imagined the changes that were about to happen. The previous season the Kiwis had toured Britain with the Junior Kiwis accompanying them. That Junior Kiwi side contained a host of youngsters who would mature into full international players including big Joe Vagana, Tevita Vaikona and Henry Paul. Although Henry was contracted to the Auckland Warriors, Wakefield signed the young prodigy for the second half of that season. His incredible talent was instantly recognised, especially by Wigan who signed him for the following year. The young Paul, when interviewed, made some references about his younger sibling being better and that was the first time most people had heard of Robbie. This caught the attention of the Bulls Chairman Chris Caisley and he returned from a trip to the southern hemisphere having signed Robbie Paul.
The signature of Paul the younger, who was recommended by New Zealand Coach Graham Lowe, was a bitter disappointment to club coach Peter Fox who wanted to sign two big Aussie forwards Paul Sironen and Paul Harrogan to drive the ball in and make ground around the play-the-ball under the new 10 metre rule, although in his first season at Odsal under Peter Fox he made ten appearances and three from the bench. Many critics of the then Northern sneered that the club had signed a player because his brother was good! They had obviously forgotten the Redfern and Van Belen brothers who had helped Northern win two championships plus a host of other trophies.
Robbie blossomed under the guidance of the Bulls first Coach Brian Smith, firstly as a Stand Off before moving to Scrum Half. By the start of the first Super League season, in 1996, Robbie was an established star in his own right and the Bulls Team Captain. The introduction of squad numbers saw the then Scrum Half pick number one, not the traditional seven and for most fans he was NUMBER ONE!.
Even as a youngster Robbie displayed great pace and vision. That first season in Super League saw the Bulls finish third and reach Wembley, where Robbie became the youngest ever Captain to lead a team out under those famous Twin Towers. Robbie has other reasons to look back with fondness at that day in May because he not only did he became the first player to score a hat trick in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley he was also awarded the coveted Lance Todd Trophy as Man of the Match, although Robbie admits to this day he would have exchanged all those accolades for a winners medal. In all he went on to collect four Super League Championships, two Challenge Cup Winner's medals and a World Club Championship winner's medal. Representative honours soon came his way, earning him 19 caps for New Zealand in a glittering career.
Robbie was most of all a winner. His determination to succeed can be summed up by his answer to a simple question in January 2003. When asked. "What are your dreams for the coming season?" he answered, "Win every trophy" And he did!!
His last winner's medal with the Bulls was the 2005 Grand Final success against Leeds when Robbie came off the bench as a Hooker replacing Ian Henderson. Their contrasting styles of play completely bamboozled a tiring Rhinos defence enabling the Bulls to lift their fourth Super League title with a 15-6 win.
Referred to in some quarters as the first franchise player, a reference made because of the easy way he projected himself in the media and the fact that often the club built the ‘brand' around him, Robbie was ‘the face' of Bradford Bulls during his time at the club. His qualities as a person made him ideal for television and he is regularly seen on the BBC, who now have Robbie as a regular on the Super League Show and accompanying Claire Balding at the Challenge Cup televised matches.
After that eventful night at Old Trafford on 15th October 2005, Robbie moved on to Huddersfield Giants after ten memorable years at Odsal. He still plies his trade for Salford, with whom he helped secure a National League Grand Slam last season and we look forward to seeing his return to the Grattan Stadium this term.
His popularity amongst the Odsal faithful was proved in 2007 when fans voted for their Team of the Century. Robbie amassed more votes than anyone else and, not surprisingly, not all for the same position!
Away from the field and the media Robbie is a quiet family man with a passion for painting. Like most things he sets his mind on he is a very good artist, with his own studio.
To many people Robbie Paul was Bradford Bulls and there is no doubt he was a major part of the clubs success in the first decade of Super League.
By Martin Bass