Cory Paterson

For the Canadian artistic gymnast, see Cory Paterson (gymnast).

Cory Paterson (born 14 July 1987) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward.

Cory Paterson

Paterson in 2009
Personal information
Born	(1987-07-14) 14 July 1987 (age 36) Perth, WA, Australia
Playing information
Height	195 cm (6 ft 5 in)^[1]
Weight	108 kg (17 st 0 lb)^[1]
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–11 Newcastle Knights 77 21 12 0 108 2011–12 North Qld Cowboys 10 4 0 0 16 2013 Hull Kingston Rovers 17 7 0 0 28 2014 Wests Tigers 9 1 2 0 8 2015 Salford Red Devils 21 10 9 0 58 2016–17 Leigh Centurions 41 22 0 0 88 2018 Toronto Wolfpack 18 11 0 0 44 2019 Leigh Centurions 10 4 1 0 18 Total 203 80 24 0 368 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2010–12 Indigenous All Stars 3 0 0 0 0
Source: ^[2]^[3]

He previously played for the Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and Hull Kingston Rovers, Leigh Centurions and the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He played for the Toronto Wolfpack and Leigh in the Betfred Championship. He is also a professional boxer.

Background

Paterson was born in Perth, Western Australia.

Career

After playing junior rugby league in his home town of Perth, Western Australia,^[4] with South Perth Lions.^[5] Paterson then attended St Francis Xavier's College, Hamilton and in 2005 represented Australia at schoolboy level.^[6]

Newcastle

In 2007, Cory Paterson was promoted to train with the Newcastle Knights first team squad.^[7] He made his début in round 2 of that year in a win against the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

At the end of the 2008 season, Paterson was selected in the Prime Minister's XIII to play the Papua New Guinea national team in Port Moresby.^[8] He then toured the United States to visit a number of NFL clubs and trial for the Oakland Raiders as a punter.^[9][10] Paterson suffered depression during the 2009 season, causing him to miss some NRL matches, but returned to good form on the field in 2010 season, when he was selected for the Indigenous All Stars squad.^[11][12] In 2011, Paterson represented the Indigenous All Stars again, but midway through the season he was released from his contract by the Knights, a decision made by the club's incoming coach Wayne Bennett.^[13]

North Queensland

After being released by Newcastle, Paterson almost immediately signed for the North Queensland Cowboys, on a contract to play for the remainder of the 2011 NRL season and two additional seasons. Paterson was told by the Knights that he was not part of their long-term plans and was free to look elsewhere for 2011 and beyond.^[14] Paterson converted to Islam during the 2011 season, requiring him to fast during daylight hours in the month of August, co-inciding with the Cowboys run-in to the NRL finals series. Paterson is close to former professional rugby league footballer Anthony Mundine and current prominent rugby league player Sonny Bill Williams, who both converted to Islam.^[15] He sought advice on fasting as a professional rugby league player from Hazem El-Masri, a devout Muslim who played over 300 first-grade matches for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.^[16]

Paterson played 7 games for North Queensland in his first (half) season with the club, he was a member of their qualifying finals series team and scored 4 tries, including a double against the Wests Tigers.

Paterson started the 2012 season of playing representative football for the Indigenous All Stars against the NRL All Stars team, he then played in only 2 NRL matches for the North Queensland Cowboys after half the season had finished (starting in both, scoring one try) due to injuries and indifferent form.

Hull Kingston Rovers

On 27 June 2012, he signed a two-year deal with Super League side Hull Kingston Rovers.^[17]

Paterson coached the Hawaiian All-stars rugby league representative team in their match against Queensland Indigenous at Oahu, Hawaii on 27 October 2012.^[18] The match occurred during the 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake, while tsunami alerts were issued for the islands.^[19]

While at Hull KR, Paterson formed a successful combination with Michael Dobson.^[20][21] However, it has been reported he has sought an early release from the club to be with his family in Australia.^[22]

West Tigers

It was announced in August 2013 that Paterson would join NRL club Wests Tigers on a one-year deal starting in 2014.^[23] At the end of the 2014 NRL season and after a total of 96 NRL appearances,^[24] Paterson announced his rugby league retirement to pursue his dream of a professional heavyweight boxing career.^[25][26]

Salford Red Devils

At the end of 2014, Paterson ended his brief rugby league retirement and agreed to a one-year deal to play for the Super League club Salford for the 2015 season. It saw him reunite with former teammate Michael Dobson.^[27] The deal includes the option of a second season at Salford.^[28]

Leigh Centurions

In September 2015, it was announced that Paterson would join Leigh Centurions for the 2016 RFL Championship.^[29] In January 2016, he was made one of two vice-captains for the Centurions.^[30]

Toronto Wolfpack

In December 2017 Paterson joined the Toronto Wolfpack on a two-year deal.^[31]

Boxing

On 5 October 2012, Paterson made a successful boxing début against Anton Tuilotolava. On 12 November 2014, he won his second fight, on the undercard of the Mundine-Rabchenko fight, against Michael Lua Tama by 1st-round TKO. It was his first fight since retiring from rugby league to begin a career in boxing.^[32]

Record

2 wins (2 knockouts, 0 decision), 0 loss, 0 draws
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location
Win	2–0	Michael Tamalemai	TKO	1 (4)	2014-11-12	Hisense Arena, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Win	1–0	Anton Tuilotolava	KO	2 (4)	2012-10-05	Newcastle Panthers Club, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

References

1. "Cory Paterson Salford Red Devils". www.superleague.co.uk. Rugby Football League. 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
2. Rugby League Project
3. Love Rugby League
4. . cowboys.com.au. North Queensland Cowboys. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
5. Proszenko, Adrian (8 July 2007). "How a Brave Dad and dead uncle spurs this young knight to chase dreams of glory". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
6. (PDF). Australian Rugby League. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
7. . RLeague.com. 15 June 2007. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
8. O'Neill, Matthew (16 September 2008). "Hindmarsh to lead PM's XIII". rleague.com. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
9. "Cory strikes while gridiron hot". The Sydney Morning Herald.
10. Hooper, James (1 November 2008). "Cory kicks up a storm in US". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
11. Ritchie, Dean (22 March 2010). "Melbourne fullback Billy Slater allegedly taunts Newcastle forward Cory Paterson over depression". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
12. Keeble, Brett (22 March 2010). "Paterson accepts apology from Storm fullback after sledging incident". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
13. Badel, Peter (24 July 2011). "Wayne Bennett's snubbing of Cory Paterson has only made him stronger". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
14. Ryan, Nathan (3 June 2011). . sportsnewsfirst.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
15. Massoud, Josh (2 August 2011). "North Queensland Cowboys NRL star Cory Paterson converts to Islam". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 22 October 2011.
16. Massoud, Josh (3 August 2011). "Muslim convert Cory Paterson approached Hazem El Masri for advice on Islam during All Star camp". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 22 October 2011.
17. "Hull KR sign North Queensland Cowboys forward Cory Paterson". BBC. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
18. [1] 6 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
19. "Tsunami warning can't stop rugby league". NRL - The official site of the National Rugby League - NRL.com.
20. . Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
21. "Cory Paterson Reveals Escape Clause in Rugby League Contract". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
22. "Hull Kingston Rovers: Cory Paterson wants early release". BBC Sport.
23. "Hull KR forward Cory Paterson secures move to NRL side Wests Tigers". Sky Sports.
24. Ben Glover (11 September 2014). "Anthony Minichiello, Brent Tate, Braith Anasta lead full list of retiring 2014 NRL players". FOX SPORTS. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
25. NICK WALSHAW (30 August 2014). "Cory Paterson walks away from big money in rugby league to become a professional heavyweight boxer". THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
26. Erin Molan (4 September 2014). "Honouring 2014's retiring heroes". NRL.com. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
27. "Salford Red Devils: Cory Paterson open to boxing return". BBC. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
28. "Super League Salford sign Corey Paterson". AAP. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
29. Stephen Topping (28 September 2015). "Leigh Centurions sign Salford Red Devils' Cory Paterson, Reni Maitua". Sports Mole. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
30. "Leigh Centurions name Micky Higham as new captain". PA Sport. Sky. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
31. "Wolfpack sign Cory Paterson". Toronto Wolfpack. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
32. "Cory Paterson beats Michael Lua Tama in second boxing bout since leaving NRL". AAP. ABC. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.

External links

• Toronto Wolfpack profile
• Leigh Centurions profile
• Cory Paterson boxing record, BoxRec