Paul Slattery | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Paul Slattery | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 921 Paul Slattery by Alex Service Paul got in touch with the SHS in 2016 and told us that his former club, Western Suburbs Rozellas, in Newcastle, NSW, were having their annual Past and Present Players re-union, with Saints` former Coach, Nathan Brown, as Guest Speaker. Indeed, Nathan himself is one of several links with St. Helens and Wests. Luke Walsh was a Wests junior before grading with the Knights, together with the one-and-only Matt Gidley. But as for Paul, he was the first overseas [Australian] player to play for the club after the Saints had visited Australia in 1976, as part of the inaugural World Club Challenge with Sydney Roosters. Paul sent us the image of him signing on at Knowsley Road, together with another Aussie, Greg Smith, from Tamworth. A good support player, Paul was versatile and could fill several positions on the field with aplomb, but the bulk of his games for the Saints were in the [left] centre. His first match was in Perpignan, a challenge match against Catalans XIII [Champions of France v Champions of England]. He made his full debut against Featherstone Rovers four days later, on 14th November 1976, at Knowsley Road. Paul experienced the intensity of a Wigan derby match on Boxing Day, when he played centre to Roy Mathias. The Old Enemy won 12-14 that day. Ironically, his last game for the club was also against Wigan, a drawn Premiership trophy match at Knowsley Road. Paul was a regular try-scorer, with 6 in 12 appearances, including a brace in the 49-2 defeat of Leigh. And so what about Paul`s memories? "Eric [Ashton] was a great bloke and when I first came, we spoke about his memories of playing against tough Newcastle representative sides on his Australian tours", he recalls. "And when Wests announced that I was selected to play the up-coming English season for Saints, it was a very big deal with Newcastle at the time. Although the Catalans game wasn`t part of the normal competition, it was still my 13th match for the club and Geoff Sutcliffe, the Saints` Secretary, told me that I qualified for a club blazer, which I subsequently received. The trouble is, I felt cheated in that my long-term hamstring injury prevented me from playing as many games as I would have liked when I came over. I really enjoyed the level of competitiveness, tenacity, flamboyant teamwork, and the skill and drive of all the players I was fortunate to play with". Paul`s own Wests club continues to thrive in terms of membership count annual turnover and profit, all from its humble beginnings in Newcastle rugby league as a foundation club in 1910. The Wests Annual Past and Present Players re-union in 2016 was a roaring success in front of a packed house. "Nathan Brown spoke very glowingly of his time at Saints", says Paul. "He also respectfully recognised my contribution as a Saints` player". Amen to that! Special thanks also to Mick McEntyre and Curtis Johnstone for their help with this article. And Paul was extremely proud to receive his Heritage Number Certificate in December 2022 and was delighted to see his former team crowned as Super League Champions: “I watched the Super League Grand Final. Wow! What a great game! Fantastic result. All my mates here in Australia are talking about it. You all must be having great celebrations. I’m so proud of the club and the team’s win. I’m also proud of the current Harry Sunderland trophy winner James Roby after meeting him here in Newcastle in 2006. Again, I’m ecstatic with the win. I know only too well how much it means to defeat Wigan. Very much reminds me of the intensity of my Boxing Day game of 1976. Love the Saints.” Paul Slattery #921 | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1976~77 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| TOTALS: | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1976~77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11th Nov 1976 | -- | L |
4 | Catalan XIII* | Fr Charity | A | 10 | 18 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Nov 1976 | 1 | W |
4 | Featherstone Rovers | L | H | 22 | 17 | VIEW | |||
| 16th Nov 1976 | 2 | L |
2 | Huddersfield | FT2 | A | 7 | 9 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Nov 1976 | 3 | W |
4 | Oldham | L | A | 20 | 9 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 4th Dec 1976 | 4 | W |
4 | Workington Town | L | A | 16 | 12 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 27th Dec 1976 | 5 | L |
4 | Wigan | L | H | 12 | 14 | VIEW | |||
| 29th Mar 1977 | 6 | L |
4 | Featherstone Rovers | L | A | 7 | 24 | VIEW | |||
| 1st Apr 1977 | 7 | W |
4 | Bradford Northern | L | H | 34 | 6 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 11th Apr 1977 | 8 | W |
2 | Widnes | L | H | 31 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 15th Apr 1977 | 9 | L |
6 | Hull Kingston Rovers | L | A | 13 | 18 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Apr 1977 | 10 | W |
6 | Leigh | L | H | 49 | 2 | 2 | VIEW | ||
| 23rd Apr 1977 | 11 | L |
4 | Warrington | L | A | 11 | 12 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 30th Apr 1977 | 12 | D |
4 | Wigan | PT1 | H | 10 | 10 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 6 | LOSSES : 6 | DRAWS : 1 |
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GALLERY |
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