Wycliff Palu

A regular on the back of the Wallabies scrum for each of the last three seasons, WYCLIFF PALU is a damaging ball runner who is hard to contain in broken field play. Of Tongan heritage, Palu is continuing to improve, in terms of his consistency levels, while remaining a player his coaches believe still possesses large amounts of untapped potential. Quietly spoken off the field, Palu has been a key figure for the Waratahs in recent years, missing just five matches over the last two seasons. He shares a house in Sydney with fellow Waratah and Wallaby representative, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau.

2003   Made his debut for New South Wales against Samoa.

2004   Switched to rugby league and spent the season with St George Illawarra in the NRL.

2005   Made his Super 12 debut against the Chiefs in the opening match of the season and played in a further five matches before a shoulder injury against the Crusaders ruled him out for the rest of the season.

2006   After playing every match for the Waratahs in the Super 14, he won his first Test cap against England in Melbourne and later established himself as the starting Wallaby No 8, a position he held for all but the last of the four Spring Tour matches.

2007   Played in 11 of the Waratahs Super 14 matches, starting at Number 8 on eight occasions.  Scored his sole Test try to date in his first Wallabies appearance in 2007 against Wales, and was a member of the Rugby World cup squad. 

2008   Appeared in 12 of the Waratahs’ 15 Super rugby matches, as the side made the Investec Super 14 final, contributing four tries. He then featured in eight of the Wallabies’ nine domestic Tests, twice earning the team’s internal Player of the Day award. Made a late start to the Spring Tour due to injury but gained three further caps before on-going shoulder problems brought him home following the French Test for treatment.