#68 Paul Whatuira: Two NRL Premierships, Mental Health & Life After Footy
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Who is Paul Whatuira and what are his major NRL achievements?
I just had the amazing honour and privilege of sitting down with rugby league great and a great man, Paul Fatuera, two-time premiership winner with the Penrith Panthers and the West Tigers. But there is so much more to his journey and his life.
Probably the best feeling I've ever had. And that beats the two premiership rings on the feeling the first time you've actually succeeded and accomplished something. But the blueprint was actually
put into work. I always say greatness comes from struggle. And Paul is another example of that. How he's rebuilt his life. I didn't have a B plan, bro. Let's
put it that way. I had to make my reason, my why, bigger than just myself. And
I
couldn't do it on my own.
Like a lot of us. We put those bad memories right in the back vault and forget about them. But it all come flooding back. The doctors at that time
recommended me that I remain on medication for the
remainder of my life. But he's overcome that struggle, doing such amazing work now in the mental health space, helping rangatahi get back into work.
11 years medication free. I have a beautiful family. Every morning I prick this gratitude
without fail. An amazing man with an amazing story. As with all our conversations, you will get a lot out of this. So don't forget to like, comment, share and subscribe. Paul Fatuera. Enjoy. This podcast is made by the amazing team at Fanaticals. They put up with me, so they're pretty epic. Paul, my brother, thank you so much for joining me, bro.
Brother, ngā mihi, kia koe mō tō tēnei kaupapa i tēnā rā, bro. Love your mahi, absolute pleasure and honour to be in your presence, my bro. Ngā mihi nui, kia koe.
Man, same feelings goes both ways, bro. It's cool, man. We caught up at the Warriors game. I need to go out more often. I saw I met some cool people out at the Warriors game and You know, you were sitting right in front with our good mate, Phil, and I hit you up to come on the podcast. So, man, I've got to go to these things more often to get some epic guests on our podcast.
Brother, you may not be able to get out, but, bro, look at my Insta, look at my LinkedIn, look at my Facebook. You are absolutely everywhere, brother.
Man, it's cool, bro. So you're up to some awesome work now, bro, and just found out you're married to Trina Tamati and a good friend. I didn't even know that, bro. So such a small world. She actually worked at Duco when I was coming through as well. Small world, bro.
Very small world. She's definitely the boss of our whare.
Yeah, I can imagine that.
Yeah, so we've been together for close to 10 years now. Really? Yeah, we have a five-year-old, Tamati, and my daughter, Gabrielle, she's 16, and Tiana, my stepdaughter, she is now 19. So we have a big household and plenty of work, plenty of mahi.
Yeah.
Yeah, but no, it does help to have a strong partner alongside you.
We were talking just earlier about blended families. How do you go with that, brother?
It has its challenges, but it's all worth it. My kotero, Gabrielle, she's 16 now. She lives in Sydney. So it's all about trying our best to make sure that we spend quality time together, one-on-one with Papa and kotero, but also giving her an opportunity to spend time with her The blended family. So we're heading over to Sydney Grand Final week,
which
I'm excited about and spending some good time with my daughter. And yeah, it's just having that constant texting and calling. Not too full on, but just letting her know that, you know, daddy's still there and cares about her. And she's 16 now, going on 20. So it's a different dynamic. There's more important things in her life right now. And I know you get this too, being a father, we just have to, Be patient and make sure that we look after ourselves first and foremost.
Yeah. Yeah, bro. He's 25 now, my eldest, and he just came back, bro. We're talking about just letting him know, letting our kids know we're there. When he turned about, he was 18, he was at uni. got himself a missus and moved out. And boy, we didn't see him for five years. And that was hard, man. And like you just said, I just sort of let him know I was there.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Paul Whatuira and what are his major NRL achievements?
0:00–5:04
2
How did Paul’s upbringing in Wainuiomata influence his path to professional rugby league?
5:04–12:02
3
What were the key moments of Paul’s NRL career, including his premiership wins with the Panthers and Wests Tigers?
12:02–19:02
4
How did injuries, medication, and mental‑health struggles affect Paul after his playing days?
19:02–25:29
5
What specific actions did Paul take to rebuild his life and break free from long‑term medication?
25:29–32:05
6
How is Paul now using the Internal Strength programme to support rangatahi, athletes and communities?
32:05–40:07
7
What core lessons about resilience, purpose and ‘no‑excuses’ does Paul share for listeners?
40:07–46:59
8
What is Paul’s personal ‘why’ that drives his work and life today?
46:59–55:33
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Unfiltered with Dave Letele
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