York Knights new signing Paul Vaughan has touted the rule changes in Super League to benefit the club in their maiden campaign in the comp.
Vaughan, 34, signed from Warrington Wolves long before their Super League promotion was confirmed, with the ex-Australia international snubbing a contract from Wire in order to sign with the Knights.
He’s one of several Super League additions for the Knights with Vaughan touting York to fare well in 2026, in part due to the rule changes in Super League.
RFL-mandated changes include a 60-second shot clock on conversion attempts and a more expedited video referee process, both aimed at speeding the game, whilst IRL-mandated amendments have also focused on the play the ball and scrums to try and quicken play.
That’s to the benefit of the Knights in Vaughan’s opinion, as he explained to BBC Radio York: “There’s a few new rules that have been introduced this year and it’s going to quicken up the game a little bit. For myself, playing for a long period of time, you have to evolve with the game but I think it’s going to be a great sort of spectacle for the fans as well.
“It’s going to be a lot of attacking and I think that suits our style of play as well. I think we’ve got some really good players out of nine and I think we’re quite a mobile pack, so I think that sort of suits us in our game to a tee.”
York Knights building based off hard work
York have options out of nine this year with former Man of Steel and last year’s Championship Player of the Year Paul McShane among them, whilst Hull FC loanee Denive Balmforth is another who is a particularly strong dummy-half runner.
Based on what he’s seen in pre-season, there’s enough for Vaughan to believe that York will go well in their first Super League campaign.
“Pre-season training has been going really well and the boys are looking really good so I think it will be a successful year,” he explained, before explaining why.
“What we’re building is based on hard work. I think the teams that you come up against in the Super League that work hard for one another and have a team-first mentality are usually the teams that do really well. I think that’s what we’re building here. We’ve got a lot of hard workers in the team.
“From looking at training and seeing the boys on the field, I think there’s a lot of talent here. I think obviously playing over here for the past three years, I’ve played a fair bit of footy over here, so I know what the opposition is. I’m pretty confident that the boys can do a fair job here.”
Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on our YouTube channel here.
Paul Vaughan explains move from Warrington with hint at future
As for why he opted to make the move to York, Vaughan credited the city of York itself as well as the club’s own ambitions.
“It’s been a good move from Warrington,” he said, adding: “I was there for about three years and the opportunity came up to come to York and we’d been to the town a couple of times, myself and my family, and we loved it here.
“With them coming up with Super League, I thought it was a great sort of challenge for myself and for the team to build a team together and obviously be quite competitive in the league.”
He’ll turn 35 in April and will be among the elder statesman in the squad and certainly among the most experienced given his time in the NRL as well as in Super League, and he offered a slight hint as to what his future may hold in both the short and long-term regarding his role developing other players.
Vaughan admitted: “I’m pretty realistic in the fact that I’ve played for a long time now and I’m one of the more experienced players out there. For myself, if I can pass on that knowledge or experiences that I’ve had, I’m more than happy to do that, especially with the younger kids that are coming through at the moment.
“It’s nice for me as well, if that’s something I want to move into after rugby, post-career, sort of helping the young boys come through with a little bit of development, I’m more than happy to do that. Like I said, I’ve got a lot of experience and I’m willing to hand it on to other players.”
