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| Full name | Paul Vaughan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1991-04-23)23 April 1991 (age 34) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[1] As of 13 February 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paul Vaughan (born 23 April 1991) is an Australian professionalrugby league footballer who plays as aprop forward for theYork Knights in theSuper League. He has played for bothItaly andAustralia at international level.
He previously played for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs,St. George Illawarra Dragons andCanberra Raiders in theNational Rugby League andWarrington Wolves in theEnglish Super League, and at representative level forNSW Country,NRL All Stars andNew South Wales in theState of Origin series.
Vaughan was born inCanberra,Australian Capital Territory, and is ofItalian descent through his maternal grandmother.[2]
He played his junior rugby league for theGungahlin Bulls before being signed by theCanberra Raiders, with whom he played in theNational Youth Competition in 2010 and 2011.[3] In 2012, Vaughan graduated to the Raiders'NSW Cup team, theMount Pritchard Mounties, winning the Mounties' Player's Player award and being named on the interchange bench in the 2012NSW Cup Team of the Year.
On 18 April, Vaughan re-signed with the Raiders on a 2-year contract to the end of the 2015 season.[4] In Round 7 of the2013 NRL season, Vaughan made hisNRL debut for the Canberra Raiders off the interchange bench against theNorth Queensland Cowboys in the Raiders 30–12 loss at1300SMILES Stadium.[5][failed verification] In Round 14 against thePenrith Panthers, Vaughan scored his first NRL career try in the Raiders 24–12 win atCanberra Stadium.[6] Vaughan finished the2013 NRL season being named as the Raiders Rookie of the Year, playing in 18 matches and scoring a try in his debut year in the NRL.[7] In October, Vaughan was named in theItaly 24-man squad for the2013 World Cup,[8] playing in all of their three matches.[9]
In Round 7 against theMelbourne Storm, Vaughan scored a solo effort try in the 79th minute to win the match for the Raiders 24–22 at Canberra Stadium.[10] Vaughan earned selection in theNSW Country team in theCity vs Country Origin match off the interchange, scoring a try in the 26-all draw inDubbo.[11][failed verification] Vaughan finished the2014 NRL season with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Raiders. On 10 September, Vaughan re-signed with the Raiders until the end of the 2017 season.[12]
On 3 May, Vaughan played for New South Wales Country againstNew South Wales City in the 2015 City vs Country Origin match, playing off the interchange bench in Country's 34–22 win atWagga Wagga.[13] In Round 20 against the Penrith Panthers, he scored his first career double in the Raiders' 34–24 win atPenrith Stadium.[14] He finished the2015 season having played in all of the Raiders' 24 matches and scoring 4 tries.[15] On 8 September, he was named in the 2015Prime Minister's XIII squad[16] but later pulled out due to injury.[17]
On 30 January, Vaughan was named in the Raiders'2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[18] On 8 May, for the third year in a row, Vaughan played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City, where he played off the interchange bench in the 44–30 loss inTamworth.[19] After Round 18, Vaughan was dropped to the Raiders NSW Cup team the Mount Pritchard Mounties after Coach Ricky Stuart opted to select the newly arrived propJunior Paulo from theParramatta Eels, rising youngsterJoseph Tapine and late bloomer rookieClay Priest to be part of the forwards rotation.[20] But after Clay Priest suffered a season ending ankle injury, Vaughan beat out overlooked veteran forwardsShaun Fensom andJeff Lima to fill in the vacant spot on the interchange bench for the finals.[21] Vaughan finished the2016 NRL season playing 20 matches and scoring 4 tries for the Canberra Raiders. On 15 October, it was announced that Vaughan signed a 3-year contract with theSt. George Illawarra Dragons worth $1.75m, starting in 2017.[22][23]
On 10 February, Vaughan played for theWorld All Stars against theIndigenous All Stars in the2017 All Stars match, playing off the interchange bench in the 34–8 loss atHunter Stadium.[24] In Round 1 of the2017 NRL season, Vaughan made his club debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons against thePenrith Panthers, starting at prop in the 42–10 win atJubilee Oval.[25] In his next match, in Round 2 against theParramatta Eels, Vaughan scored his first club try for the Dragons in the 34–16 loss atWIN Stadium.[26] On 13 September, Vaughan was named in the 2017 Prime Minister's XIII squad.[27]
In 2018, Vaughan was named in The NSW Blues squad for The2018 State of Origin series. Vaughan also had the honour of being the 1000th player to pull on a Blues jersey.[28] On 5 June, Vaughan told theSydney Morning Herald that "The best thing I did in my career was to leave Canberra and go to St George Illawarra."[29] Vaughan went on to play in all 3 games of the 2018 State of Origin series as The Blues won the shield 2–1.[30]
After a good start to the2019 NRL season, Vaughan was selected to play for New South Wales in the2019 State of Origin series. Vaughan played in all 3 games and scored a try in the deciding match which was played atANZ Stadium. The Blues won 26-20 courtesy of a last minute try toJames Tedesco. New South Wales would go on to win the series 2-1 and retain the shield for the first time since 2005.[31]
Vaughan made a total of 23 appearances for St George Illawarra in the 2019 season as they endured one of their worst ever seasons, finishing 15th on the table above the last placed Gold Coast. St George Illawarra had gone into the season as one of the clubs expected to make the finals and challenge for the premiership.[32]
On 30 September, Vaughan was named as prop in the Prime Minister's XIII side. On 7 October, Vaughan was named in the Australian side for the upcomingOceania Cup fixtures.
On 6 August, Vaughan was stood down by the club and fined $10,000 after he was caught breaking the NRL's strict bubble restrictions by visiting an Illawarra cafe.[33]
Vaughan played 15 games for St. George Illawarra in the2020 NRL season as the club finished 12th. Following the conclusion of the season, Vaughan was not selected for the2020 State of Origin series.[34]
On 4 July, Vaughan was placed under investigation by the NRL after it was alleged he hosted a house party along with eleven of his teammates which went against the league'sCOVID-19 biosecurity protocols, as well as a breach of theNSW stay-at-home orders.[35] The following day, Vaughan was suspended for eight matches and fined $50,000 over the incident. It was also alleged that Vaughan withheld information from the NRL and NSW Police.[36] On 6 July, the St. George Illawarra board approved the termination of Vaughan's contract effective immediately.[37] The illegal house party was one of three behavioural strikes against Vaughan.[38]On 28 July, Vaughan signed a contract with theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for the 2022 season.[39]
In round 1 of the2022 NRL season, Vaughan made his club debut for Canterbury in their 6–4 victory against theNorth Queensland Cowboys atQueensland Country Bank Stadium.[40] Following the resignation of coachTrent Barrett, Vaughan was criticised by journalists for attacking the media despite explicit instructions from general managerPhil Gould not to speak to the media.[41][42]On 22 June, Vaughan signed a two-year deal to join English sideWarrington starting in 2023. In round 20, Vaughan played his 200th first grade game in Canterbury's victory overNewcastle.[43]
Vaughan made his club debut for Warrington in round 1 of the 2023 Super League season as the side defeatedLeeds 42–10.[44]In round 24, Vaughan scored two tries for Warrington in their 66–12 victory overCastleford.[45]
During Warrington's loss to St Helens in round 26, Vaughan was placed on report for trying to move an injuredSione Mata'utia during the clubs 18–6 defeat. Vaughan was later suspended for four matches over the incident which ended his season. Vaughan was also fined £500.[46][47]
On 8 June 2024, Vaughan played in Warrington's2024 Challenge Cup final loss against Wigan.[48]Vaughan played 24 games for Warrington in the2024 Super League season as the club reached the semi-final before losing to Hull Kingston Rovers.[49]
On 7 June, Vaughan played in Warrington's 8-6 Challenge Cup final loss against Hull Kingston Rovers.[50]On 25 July, Vaughan signed a contract to join RFL Championship sideYork RLFC.[51]Vaughan played 24 games for Warrington in the 2025 Super League season as they missed the playoffs finishing 8th on the table.[52]
| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Canberra Raiders | 18 | 1 | 4 |
| 2014 | 23 | 7 | 28 | |
| 2015 | 24 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2016 | 20 | 4 | 16 | |
| 2017 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons | 23 | 8 | 32 |
| 2018 | 19 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2019 | 23 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2020 | 15 | |||
| 2021 | 16 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2022 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 1 | 4 |
| 2023 |  Warrington | 27 | 6 | 24 |
| 2024 | 24 | |||
| 2025 | 9 | |||
| Totals | 263 | 38 | 152 |
