Pauli Pauli fears nothing on the field, but still shudders at the memory of defying his parents to help his younger sister’s rugby league career.
Christine Pauli was 14 when a cousin invited her to take part in a trial game after church one Sunday. With six sisters and three brothers in total in the family house, parents Lupe and Fili had forbidden the girls from playing after seeing the brutality of Pauli’s early matches.
But the Salford Red Devils forward agreed to take Christine to the match without mum and dad knowing - and seven years on the move paid off. Christine is now starring in the semi-professional NRL Women’s Premiership with St George Illawarra, making the dressing down the pair got from their parents as youngsters back in Sydney worthwhile.
But asked if he would prefer to tackle a full speed Super League prop or face his parents' wrath again, Pauli admits: “Getting in trouble with mum is definitely the worst. We got in trouble that day but I told them it’d be fine.
“Not everyone in the family was allowed to play but Christine was the lucky one. I was the test bunny and I think mum was a bit scared for the others to play after seeing what I went through. But Christine was allowed in the end, she got an opportunity at Parramatta and came through the ranks with the girls.
“All the games there are on TV so I’ve been able to watch her, but we don’t swap notes on how we play - she’s better than I was at her age.”
Family has always been important to Pauli - he spent his early career earnings buying them a house in Western Sydney. Covid restrictions mean he wasn’t able to visit them at Christmas for the first time since relocating to England - and they’ve also put paid to his off-field battles with team-mate Sebastine Ikahihifo.
The pair are keen chess players but matches now take place in the virtual world while Salford - aiming to defy the odds again this season under new coach Richard Marshall - maintain strict safety procedures.
Pauli added: “It’s a bit difficult now with all the rule changes and everything the clubs have to do, so we play on our phones now, it’s a lot easier.
“Everyone still calls Salford underdogs but we’re competitors. We’re here to compete, we think we’re a top team and we’ve been in two finals in the last two years.
“I don’t see us as a bottom tier team. I’m sure Rich will do a great job - he’s come in and ripped into the boys and we’ve been enjoying that.”