Paul Carige

Paul Carige (born 5 August 1973) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1990s. He played for the Illawarra Steelers, Parramatta Eels, and the Salford City Reds. He mostly played at centre, but occasionally he played the odd game at fullback or wing.

Playing career

In 1997, Carige joined the Parramatta Eels. The 1997 season also saw the recruitment of a new coach, former Illawarra Steelers and St. George Dragons coach Brian Smith. Smith's appointment saw a reversal in the club's fortunes. They went from being easybeats (not having made a finals appearance since their premiership win in 1986) to title contenders. The Eels lost both of their finals matches that year to the Newcastle Knights and the North Sydney Bears in week 1 and week 2 respectively. In 1998, the Eels went within one game of making their first Grand Final appearance since 1986.

Carige is probably best remembered for his poor performance in the Eels 32–20 extra-time loss to the Bulldogs in the 1998 preliminary final at the Sydney Football Stadium. With just 11 minutes left, the Eels had a commanding 18–2 lead, and looked like inevitable victors, but three quick tries to Craig Polla-Mounter, Rod Silva and Willie Talau saw the Bulldogs draw level at 18-all. With only seconds remaining in regular time, Carige kicked the ball on the first tackle straight to the Bulldogs' five-eighth Craig Polla-Mounter. Polla-Mounter almost stole the match in regular time when his attempt at field goal narrowly missed. In extra-time, Carige caught a ball from a kick return, deep in his own territory, and ran over the sideline further hampering his sides' chances. The Bulldogs went on to win the match 32–20, and would subsequently qualify for the 1998 NRL Grand Final against the Brisbane Broncos the following week. Despite being contracted with the Eels until the end of the 1999 season, Carige's stint with the Eels ended after this match. In his two seasons with the Eels, he played 45 games and scored 13 tries. After the preliminary final loss, Carige was forced to flee out of Sydney to Coffs Harbour after receiving abuse from people wherever he went and received further abuse from disgruntled fans over the internet.

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