Wycliff Palu
No. 8
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Profile
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Height:
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194cm
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Weight:
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116kg
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Date Of Birth:
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27/07/1982
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Place of Birth:
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Sydney NSW
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Rugby Career
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Senior Club:
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Manly
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Stats
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Provincial Rugby Caps:
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94
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Provincial Rugby Points:
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60 (12t)
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Provincial Rugby Debut:
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2003 v Samoa
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Super Rugby Caps:
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89
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Super Rugby Points:
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60 (12t)
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Super Rugby Debut:
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2005 v Chiefs
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Test Rugby Caps:
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46
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Test Rugby Points:
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5 (1t)
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Test Rugby Debut:
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2006 v England
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Widely acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in the HSBC Waratahs’ squad, Wycliff Palu is also one of the most longstanding. Already the 15th most capped NSW player of all time, the Manly No. 8 recently signed a contract extension that will keep him in Sydney for a ninth successive year, until the end of the 2013 season.
After making his NSW provincial debut in 2003 against Samoa in Sydney, the promising rookie reverting briefly to the sport he grew up with, signing with the St. George Illawarra Dragons for the 2004 season but returning to union the following year. After a promising pre-season that saw him earn a man-of-the-match award for a trial game performance, Palu made his Super Rugby debut in the HSBC Waratahs’ round one opener against the Chiefs.
One of the most feared players on the field, he leads by example with his ability to run the ball hard and tackle even harder often providing a visible lift to those around him and earning an audible response from those in the crowd.
A constant inclusion in Wallaby gold since making his Test debut against England in 2006, Palu has also had a major impact on international rugby. His six-year career has seen him take part in two Rugby World Cup campaigns and amass over 45 Test caps, though this tally would be higher had it not been for the injuries that the 184cm, 118kg back rower has come to accept as part and parcel of such a brutal, decade-long career.
Capping an outstanding two years, in 2009 Palu became the first HSBC Waratahs’ player to lift consecutive Matthew Burke Cups, voted by his peers as the HSBC Waratahs Players’ Player of the Year in both 2008 and 2009.
After missing all of the 2010 international season with a knee injury and managing just six Super Rugby appearances in 2011, he earned selection in the RWC 2011 squad before injury forced him home from New Zealand early. There was a silver lining however in that the enforced break allowed the then-29-year-old to benefit from a full pre-season. Starting the 2012 season in strong physical condition, Palu went on to play in 13 of the HSBC Waratahs’ 16 Super Rugby matches – including 11 in the run on side – and finish the season as Best Forward, just four points behind Matthew Burke Cup winner Dave Dennis.
A former pupil at Balgowlah Boys High School on the Northern Beaches, Wycliff was brought up in Manly, playing all his rugby for the local Manly Marlins club, and lived there until 2012. Now father to two-year-old son Muti Zidane, whose first name was handed down by Tongan tradition and second is a tribute to his dad’s love of soccer, a need for space to accommodate his new family saw he and his wife move to the western Sydney suburb of Plumpton.
Despite being one of the highest profile members of the squad, he says he enjoys the daily train commute from Rooty Hill station to Central and the 20 minute walk to the team’s Moore Park headquarters, for the chance to beat the traffic and relax.
Updated May 21, 2013