I haven’t come over here for a holiday: Paul Vaughan bullish over Super League move

Josh McAllister
Paul Vaughan. PA Images

Warrington recruit Paul Vaughan insists he wants to continue his form from the NRL into the Super League competition in 2023, and hasn’t just made the move to England for a holiday.

Vaughan, 31, joins from Canterbury Bulldogs, where he celebrated his 200th NRL appearance in 2022 in round 20 against Newcastle Knights.

The experienced prop forward has previously won two caps for Australia, and also represented Italy at the 2013 and 2017 World Cup tournaments. He has also featured for New South Wales six times. 

Having also played for Canberra Raiders and St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL, Vaughan is now ready to take on a new challenge on the other side of the world with the Wire.

“I’m coming over after a good season in 2022 I think,” Vaughan told Love Rugby League.

“The Bulldogs results didn’t go our way, but individually I thought I was playing pretty good. I want to continue that over here. 

“Personally, I feel good physically. I haven’t come over here for a holiday, I want to play some good footy.”

Paul Vaughan discusses new opportunities for young family

Vaughan also spoke about the chance of giving his young family new experiences, having moved into their new home in Stockton Heath – a 10 minute drive from the Halliwell Jones Stadium, as opposed to the 90 minute journey he undertook in 2022 to Belmore.

“The family is happy and the wife is happy, I guess that’s the main thing,” Vaughan said.

“It was a big move. We had a pretty good lifestyle in Australia. We were living in Shellharbour which is a beautiful place and a nice house and my partner had a really good job that she loves.

“My partner and I discussed it pretty early on, the idea of coming over. And she was pretty open to it. I think with the two young girls that we have, it’s more so the opportunity for them to experience something new and to do some travelling as well.

“At this time in our lives, it was a good option to come over I thought. I probably could have gone a couple more seasons in the NRL, but I just thought it’s a good time to come over and experience something new.

“Personally, I knew early on that I wanted to come over and have a crack in Super League. It was just sort of when it would present itself.

“I was pretty lucky, that was my 10th season in the NRL. It was a good experience to play as long as I did and achieve the things I did over there.

“But I thought at this time in our lives, it would be a good experience to come over now.”

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