Robbie Paul

Bradford Bulls and New Zealand stand-off

I got into playing rugby league through my parents.

My dad is a huge fan of the game and myself and my brother Henry (who now plays rugby union for Gloucester) started playing the game when we were very young.

Although New Zealand is a rugby union-mad country, rugby league is still played by a lot of people.

The cities have a good balance between the two sports.

I grew up in Auckland, the biggest city in New Zealand, and where I lived, there was only a rugby league club nearby.

Ellery Hanley was a huge role model for me

I played union for my school and I played league for my local club, Teatatu North.

Growing up, I had three players whom I admired and wanted to play like - Ellery Hanley, Wally Lewis and Mark Graham.

All three of these guys are legends in Britain, Australia and New Zealand respectively.

I have been professional ever since I joined Bradford back in 1994.

I came over from New Zealand as an 18-year-old. It was a real shock to the system at first, but I was very focused on making the first team.

The people of Bradford made me feel very welcome, they were glad to get some young blood into the team.