Paul Merlo is an Australian former professional rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player in the New South Wales Rugby League

New South Wales Rugby League

The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...

 (NSWRL) competition. Merlo played for the Penrith Panthers

Penrith Panthers

The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...

, Western Suburbs Magpies

Western Suburbs Magpies

The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...

 and the Cronulla Sharks

Cronulla Sharks

The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales...

 as well as representing New South Wales. He primarily played at lock.

Merlo was selected to represent New South Wales as a second-rower for game III of the 1982 State of Origin

1982 Rugby League State of Origin series

The 1982 State of Origin series was the first annual full 3-match series, between New South Wales and Queensland to be played under "state of origin" selection rules. This year the Origin concept was fully embraced, with no matches using the previous seventy-four years' residential-based selection...

 series.

In 2010, Merlo was named as a member of the Western Suburbs Magpies' Team of the Eighties.

After Retirement

Paul Merlo is now working as a regional manager for Cetnaj Lighting Electrical and Data. Paul is based at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

.He is now the head coach of the South Newcastle Lions in the Newcastle Rugby League competition.

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