Mystery still surrounds the holding of former Warriors, Kiwis and Wests Tigers rugby league centre Paul Whatuira in a UK mental health facility after he was apparently Tasered by police following a "bizarre" attack on two men in Huddersfield.
Whatuira, now with the Huddersfield Giants, is generally regarded within rugby
league as an intelligent, easygoing man but reports from the UK suggest the 28-year-old had to be subdued by the police stun gun, according to the Daily Mirror website.
The Huddersfield Examiner newspaper has reported that Whatuira has been detained at a secure mental health unit in Bradford, but there have been few clues about what triggered the incident.
However, it has since been revealed that Whatuira was a patient at Huddersfield's St Luke's Hospital and had been there early on Tuesday morning before leaving the hospital. The attacks occurred shortly after. Whatuira either does not drink or drinks very little, is expecting their first child with fiancee Vanessa, is studying a sports degree in his spare time - scarcely the profile of a troubled or sick man.
However, some reports from the UK have mentioned that Whatuira was suffering from persistent migraine headaches earlier this year, causing him to miss games. He underwent a scan but the results showed nothing. There is no clear evidence linking the headaches to the incident in Huddersfield.
The violence began when a man walking from his car to an engineering firm was attacked on the road at 6am.
A company spokesman said: "It was unprovoked. The man left his vehicle in our car park and was walking across the road ... when he was set upon. He has a broken nose, missing front teeth and other severe dental problems." The man was kept in hospital overnight. Another man attacked nearby was not badly hurt.
The Giants have closed ranks on the issue, saying they would be standing by the player and medically supporting him.
His time at Huddersfield has been successful - last year he won the club's awards for top try scorer, most metres gained and he was named coaches' player of the year.
