Paul Vaughan (rugby league)

Paul Vaughan (born 23 April 1991) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. He has played for both Italy and Australia at international level.

Paul "Italian Stallion" Vaughan
Personal information
Full namePaul Vaughan
Born (1991-04-23) 23 April 1991
Canberra, ACT, Australia
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–16 Canberra Raiders 85 16 0 0 64
2017– St. George Illawarra 80 12 0 0 48
Total 165 28 0 0 112
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–17 Italy 6 1 0 0 4
2014–17 NSW Country 4 0 0 0 0
2017 NRL All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
2018–19 New South Wales 6 1 0 0 4
2019– Australia 2 1 0 0 4
As of 17 November 2020
Source: [1]

He previously played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League, and NSW Country, NRL All Stars and New South Wales in the State of Origin series.

Background
Vaughan playing for the Raiders in 2011

Vaughan was born in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, and is of Italian descent through his maternal grandmother.[2]

He played his junior rugby league for the Gungahlin Bulls before being signed by the Canberra Raiders, with whom he played in the National Youth Competition in 2010 and 2011.[3] In 2012, Vaughan graduated to the Raiders' New South Wales Cup team, the Mount Pritchard Mounties, winning the Mounties' Player's Player award and being named on the interchange bench in the 2012 NSW Cup Team of the Year.

Playing career

2013

On 18 April 2013, Vaughan re-signed with the Raiders on a 2-year contract to the end of the 2015 season.[4] In Round 7 of the 2013 NRL season, Vaughan made his NRL debut for the Canberra Raiders off the interchange bench against the North Queensland Cowboys in the Raiders 30-12 loss at 1300SMILES Stadium.[5] In Round 14 against the Penrith Panthers, Vaughan scored his first NRL career try in the Raiders 24-12 win at Canberra Stadium.[6] Vaughan finished the 2013 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 2013, Vaughan was named in the Italy 24-man squad for the 2013 World Cup,[8] playing in all of their three matches.[9]

2014

In Round 7 against the Melbourne 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 the NSW Country team in the City vs Country Origin match off the interchange, scoring a try in the 26-all draw in Dubbo.[11] Vaughan finished the 2014 NRL season with him playing in 23 matches and scoring 7 tries for the Raiders. On 10 September 2014, Vaughan re-signed with the Raiders until the end of the 2017 season.[12]

2015

On 3 May, Vaughan played for New South Wales Country against New South Wales City in the 2015 City vs Country Origin match, playing off the interchange bench in Country's 34-22 win at Wagga Wagga.[13] In Round 20 against the Penrith Panthers, he scored his first career double in the Raiders' 34-24 win at Penrith Stadium.[14] He finished the 2015 season having played in all of the Raiders' 24 matches and scoring 4 tries.[15] On 8 September, he was named in the 2015 Prime Minister's XIII squad[16] but later pulled out due to injury.[17]

2016

On 30 January 2016, Vaughan was named in the Raiders' 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[18] On 8 May 2016, 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 in Tamworth.[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 prop Junior Paulo from the Parramatta Eels, rising youngster Joseph Tapine and late bloomer rookie Clay Priest to be part of the forwards rotation.[20] But after Clay Priest suffered a season ending ankle injury, Vaughan beat out overlooked veteran forwards Shaun Fensom and Jeff Lima to fill in the vacant spot on the interchange bench for the Finals.[21] Vaughan finished the 2016 NRL season playing 20 matches and scoring 4 tries for the Canberra Raiders. On 15 October 2016, it was announced that Vaughan signed a 3-year contract with the St. George Illawarra Dragons worth $1.75m, starting from 2017 and will see him at the club until 2019.[22][23]

2017

On 10 February 2017, Vaughan played for the World All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the 2017 All Stars match, playing off the interchange bench in the 34-8 loss at Hunter Stadium.[24] In Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, Vaughan made his club debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons against the Penrith Panthers, starting at prop in the 42-10 win at Jubilee Oval.[25] In his next match in Round 2 against the Parramatta Eels, Vaughan scored his first club try for the Dragons in the 34-16 loss at WIN Stadium.[26] On 13 September, Vaughan was named in the 2017 Prime Minister's XIII squad.[27]

2018

In 2018, Vaughan was named in The NSW Blues squad for The 2018 State of Origin series. Vaughan also had the honour of being the 1000th player to pull on a Blues jersey.[28] On 5 June 2018, Vaughan told The Sydney 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 2018 State of Origin series as The Blues won the shield 2-1.[30]

2019

After a good start to the 2019 NRL season, Vaughan was selected to play for New South Wales in the 2019 State of Origin series. Vaughan played in all 3 games and scored a try in the deciding match which was played at ANZ Stadium. The Blues won 26-20 courtesy of a last minute try to James 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 in the 2019 NRL season as they endured one of their worst ever seasons finishing 15th on the table above the last placed Gold Coast. St George had gone into the season as one of the club's expected to make the finals and challenge for the premiership.[32]

On 30 September, Vaughan was named at prop in the Australia PM XIII side. On 7 October, Vaughan was named in the Australian side for the upcoming Oceania Cup fixtures.

2020

Vaughan played 15 games for St. George in the 2020 NRL season as the club finished 13th. Following the conclusion of the season, Vaughan was not selected for the 2020 State of Origin series.[33]

References
  1. "Paul Vaughan - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. Buckley, James (15 September 2017). "Dragons prop Paul Vaughan set for second World Cup with Italy ... or Australia". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. "Paul Vaughan - Player". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  4. "Raiders re-sign McIlwrick and Vaughan". Zero Tackle. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. Badel, Peter (28 April 2013). "Matt Bowen stars as North Queensland Cowboys beat Canberra Raiders 30-12". Daily Telegraph. News Corp. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  6. Tuxworth, Jon (15 June 2013). "Raiders surge past Panthers". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018.
  7. Tuxworth, Jon (8 December 2013). "Canberra Raiders rookie Paul Vaughan likes the hue of NSW blue". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  8. "Italy name squad for RLWC2013". Rugby League World Cup 2013. Rugby League International Federation. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  9. "Paul Vaughan - World Cup matches". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  10. "Last-gasp payback as Storm falls on late try". The Australian. News Corp. Australian Associated Press. 20 April 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  11. Toohey, Barry (4 May 2014). "Hulking centre Jamal Idris stars in thrilling City-Country draw in Dubbo". The Daily Telegraph. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  12. "Paul Vaughan re-signs with Canberra Raiders until end of 2017". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  13. Brady, Jack (3 May 2015). "Country overcome City in seesawing affair". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018.
  14. "Raiders outlast Panthers in high-scoring clash". National Rugby League. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018.
  15. "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project.
  16. "Prime Minister's XIII train-on squad". National Rugby League. 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  17. Gaskin, Lee (13 September 2015). "Kangaroos forward Josh Papalii one of four Raiders players ruled out of PM's XIII squad". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  18. "Raiders name 2016 Nines squad". Rugby League Week. Bauer Media Australia. 30 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  19. Webeck, Tony (28 February 2016). "Young City side stun Country". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  20. Walsh, Dan (18 August 2016). "NRL 2016: Raiders CEO Don Furner admits Paul Vaughan, Shaun Fensom could be forced elsewhere". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  21. Dutton, Chris (15 September 2016). "NRL finals: Recalled Raiders trio ready to step up after Clay Priest suffers injury heartbreak". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  22. Polkinghorne, David (15 October 2016). "Canberra Raiders prop Paul Vaughan accepts St George Dragons' offer". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  23. Glover, Ben (21 October 2016). "St George Illawarra Dragons confirm signing of former Canberra Raiders star Paul Vaghan". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  24. "World All Stars team changes". National Rugby League. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  25. "Dragons slay Panthers in Kogarah boilover". Daily Telegraph.
  26. Kennedy, Chris (12 March 2017). "Semi scores four as Eels down Dragons". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  27. "Mal Meninga names Australian Prime Minister's XIII for Papua New Guinea tour match". Fox Sports. 13 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  28. Walsh, Dan (31 May 2018). "NSW Blues Origin rookie Paul Vaughan's life support scare". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  29. Helmers, Caden (5 June 2018). "Leaving Canberra was 'the best thing' Paul Vaughan has done". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  30. Walter, Brad (3 July 2018). "Stat of Origin: Dragons quartet eye off rare NSW Origin-premiership double". National Rugby League. Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  31. Johnson, Paul (10 July 2019). "Emotional Blues legend Wayne Pearce opens up on his son Mitchell's battle". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  32. Chisholm, Ed (2 September 2019). "Paul McGregor facing the axe as St. George Illawarra Dragons coach following horror season". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  33. O'Loughlin, Liam (26 October 2020). "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next year?". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
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