Paul 'Fatty' Vautin (born 21 July 1959 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian television presenter and commentator and formerly a professional rugby league footballer and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and has also hosted The Footy Show since its beginnings in 1994. An Australian Kangaroos test and Queensland State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Vautin played club football in Brisbane with Wests before moving to Sydney in 1979 to play with Manly-Warringah, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St. Helens.After playing, Vautin became a sports commentator for the Nine Network, calling rugby league games alongside Ray Warren and the also recently retired Peter Sterling. Later, during the Super League war, he was hired to coach Queensland in the 1995 State of Origin series and took the Maroons to an upset 3–0 whitewash of hot series favourite New South Wales.According to Vautin, he earned his nickname "Fatty" soon after joining Manly in 1979. While being shown around Brookvale Oval by club secretary Ken Arthurson, he walked past retired Manly premiership captain Fred Jones who was in conversation with club and Kangaroos fullback Graham Eadie. Jones asked Eadie "Who is that fatty?", and the name stuck. On an episode of The Footy Show in 2013, Vautin told the other panelists that other than his wife of 28 years Kim, his elderly mother, almost everyone he knows calls him either Fatty or Fat rather than Paul.
I'll be leading Manly from the front. As chairman one of my roles will be to ensure all departments of the football club are running smoothly. I see my role as chairman as a challenge. My aim, while working alongside the rest of the board, is to get the club back to the top where I believe it belongs. I'm the first to admit I don't bring a great deal of business accumen to the Manly board, but what I do bring is a lot of football knowledge. I'll leave the business side of things to the experts like (club CEO) Ian Thomson. I'll be in charge of not just any football club. Manly has been a big part of my life.
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Fact
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Renewed his vows with wife Kim, on their 30th wedding anniversary, in Las Vegas.
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Principal host of The Footy Show (rugby league) since its inception at Sydney's Channel 9 TV Network
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Captained for Queensland twice in the absence of Wally Lewis.
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Was named as one of the greatest 25 players of State of Origin for Queensland.
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Vautin has a popular game segment on The Footy Show called "Crack A Fatty." There has been different versions throughout the years where contestants would attack dummy verions of him to win prizes. It is usually a doll with a red wig to signify him and his red hair.
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Played as a lock forward for Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles from 1979 to 1989 (a total of 204 first grade games).
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Dally M Players' Player 1983; Dally M Representative Player (1983); Dally M Captain of the Year (1987).
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Won the 1987 NSWRL Grandfinal Premiership as Captain of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
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Played 22 games for Queensland and 13 games for Australia.
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Became Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Rugby League Football Club's new chairman on December 23, 2002.