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Paul Vautin 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 late 1979 to play with Manly-Warringah, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club 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 former 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, and his elderly mother, almost everyone he knows calls him either Fatty or Fat rather than Paul.
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