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The Guardian
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Warrington's Paul Vaughan: ‘We didn't deliver last year so have to take this opportunity'
Paul Vaughan arrived in England two years ago as damaged goods, an NRL cartoon baddie after he had been sacked by the Dragons for breaking Covid rules and fallen out with Canterbury. If he wins the Challenge Cup at Wembley on Saturday, he will be a Warrington superhero. The sight of the giant prop – who looks as if he squeezes into a jersey two sizes too small and shorts borrowed from Kylie Minogue – running in from the back fence to get Warrington out of trouble, or smashing his way through a defensive line before delicately offloading with delightful subtlety, is hard to forget. Vaughan shares these talismanic traits with a prime Sam Burgess, which is no coincidence. For seven years, Vaughan and Burgess tried to smash each other into Bondi Bay, rivals among the NRL's big boppers. Now their relationship has a totally different dynamic. 'It's funny,' says Vaughan of the Warrington coach. 'He's pretty fresh out of the game – he's only a couple of years older than me and we've played a bit of footy against each other. As a bloke playing in the position he used to play, everything he says correlates with my game and how I want to play. So I listen very closely to what Sam says and if I can implement a couple of things from his game into mine that will be great. What he says holds a lot of weight. He's a great coach and a great leader of men.' It would be an exaggeration to say Vaughan alone took Warrington to Wembley, but he has been exceptional. He was magnificent for the injury-hit Wire in their semi-final win against Leigh, as were James Harrison, Matt Dufty and several others. Time and again in recent weeks, Vaughan has stepped up when his team needed him, injecting energy and passion with an explosive carry or ferocious tackle. 'The special thing about our group is there's players like that all over the pitch,' he says. 'We sometimes rely too much on Matt Dufty at full-back to get us out of trouble because he's such a flashy player with great skill, and we maybe lean on George [Williams] a little bit too, but I think we all rely on each other. I try to lead the team but there's boys across the pitch who do that week in week out. If I need to take a tough carry I'll always put my hand up. I've always been very hard on myself: I want to be consistent. You don't want a massive gap between your best game and worst game. I've played 14 years and those extremes don't really happen that regularly for me. I think I've done a pretty good job.' Warrington go into the final as considerable underdogs. At the halfway point of the Super League season, Hull KR are top of the table with twice as many wins as midtable Warrington. Willie Peters' side are in terrific form, flattening all comers, including St Helens in a resounding 34-4 win last weekend. They will be supported by twice as many fans at Wembley as they try to lift their first major trophy in 40 years. So how is Burgess preparing his team to tear up the form book? 'He's kept the week as normal as possible,' says Vaughan. 'You look at the opposition but it comes down to what we do as a team, what we go after, what we value and what we can celebrate. It's a game of footy: plenty of times the understrength team comes out on top.' It is hard to spot any weaknesses in the Robins side, but a pack stripped of the injured Jared Waerea-Hargreaves may be one area where injury-hit Warrington have an advantage. 'We have great belief,' says Vaughan. 'We know what we're capable of. We've got to be proud of putting ourselves in this position two years in a row. Yes, we're midtable and that's not flattering, but we've had a lot of injuries and are in a patch now where we're confident – we just need to get a roll on.' Vaughan is used to such occasions. Not only did he play in Warrington's defeat to Wigan in last year's final, but his career is littered with major matches: from the 2013 World Cup opener at the Millennium Stadium, to State of Origin series deciders with New South Wales, and representing Australia in Auckland. 'I've been lucky to play in pretty big games so you can fall back on the experience you've had, whether good or bad,' he says. 'It's good to have had the experience of last year. Everything will be more familiar now, which will make the week easier. I'd not played at Wembley and the buildup was really something special. It was a strange game. We'd been red-hot all the way to the final and then we put together one of our worst games, which was disappointing and frustrating. We didn't deliver. A few of the boys hadn't played on a big stage before so they will be better for that. You don't know when you'll have this opportunity again so you've got to take it with both hands.' Vaughan is in the form of his life just as he's starting to wonder when his body will fail him. Is this his last dance? 'It might be getting to that point. I'm 34 this year and you can't play for ever. But I feel great at the moment. I feel in really good shape and I'm contributing to the team really well, which is a bit strange as I'm getting old, but physically I feel on top of my game.' He is performing as well as anyone in Super League, so Warrington will not be the only club making him offers for next season. Whoever he signs for, Vaughan knows his next destination once this season ends: taking the family back to Italy to visit the village near Naples where his grandma grew up. She will turn 102 later this month. Given those genes, it's little surprise Vaughan is playing like someone a decade younger. If Vaughan is looking for inspiration before the cup final on Saturday, he could look back to his debut for Italy against England before the 2013 World Cup. 'That was crazy,' he says. 'I was a young kid in my first year of first grade. We came up against James Graham, the Burgess brothers, Sam Tomkins, and we beat them 15-14. It was mad. And then we beat Wales at the opening ceremony in Cardiff. We had a great team: we were stacked. That was one of the highlights of my career. We celebrated pretty well that night.' As sporting shocks go, Warrington beating Hull KR at Wembley would have nothing on that. Wigan Warriors are hoping to have won a Challenge Cup before Warrington and Hull even kick off at Wembley. Wigan will be trying to stop St Helens winning their fifth successive Women's Challenge Cup on Saturday lunchtime. Denis Betts' side are the bolters of 2025, the club's investment paying off as they have followed up their handsome semi-final win over Leeds by thrashing champions York in the Super League opener, putting a ton on Barrow and winning comfortably at Leeds last weekend. Saturday's derby should be a cracker. 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Scotsman
28-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Plan to save rocks from collapsing at historic Outlander harbour unveiled
A plan to stop rocks at a historic Fife harbour from collapsing has been revealed. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It comes weeks after councillors agree to commit £200,000 to tackle the unstable cliffs at Dysart Harbour where scenes for Outlander were filmed, and which remains a major draw for visitors and locals alike. Fife Council's formal planning application seeks approval to for the installation of netting and rock bolts. If signed off, work could start later this summer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad At risk is the path known as Sailor's Walk and the tunnel that links Ravenscraig Park and Dysart Harbour. Dysart Harbour is one of the jewels of the Fife coast. Picture: Fife Free Press The tunnel was originally built as a rail passage for moving ballast stones to ships. Today it is link that takes countless walkers on to the well established Fife Coastal Path and is used on a daily basis by large numbers of people, but the sandstone cliff face is in danger of collapse. There are already barriers at the side of it keeping people away from its eroding shoreline. The harbour's lower level is subject to erosion caused by wind, weather and wave action. A report submitted as part of the planning application said: 'The natural bedding planes are highly irregular, with a general angle near the horizontal that runs beneath the path and steps. It is possibly the worst possible angle for this situation and location, as these movements have undermined the path.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To protect the public from rock falls, the path was closed in 2012. Fencing was also installed on the beach and a rock trap formed around the cliff to restrict public access to the overhang. The view looking through the tunnel to Dysart Harbour (Pic: Bill Dickman/Fife Free Press) But the report noted: 'Unfortunately, complete restriction to access has not been possible. The location is partly within the intertidal zone and, as a result, the sea frequently damages the fencing. There remains a risk to public safety from further collapses and this application aims to mitigate that risk. If left, continued erosion will result in the permanent loss of the path.' The total repair bill sits at £450,000. The Kirkcaldy area committee's £200,000 pledge covers the shortfall in funding to enable plans to proceed. In a report to the committee, Paul Vaughan, head of communities and neighbourhoods, said: 'The cliff face in Dysart is in danger of totally destroying the tunnel at Dysart Harbour and is currently a risk to the public. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Due to health and safety, the cliff face requires significant repair. Securing the additional money would allow the site to be secured. The work would include the stabilisation of rock slopes using rockfall netting.' Councillor Ian Cameron, committee convener and local councillor, said the tunnel was an 'important part of the local heritage'. He said: 'There will also be clearance work undertaken on the 'Highbury Heed', the part of the path leading from the park down to the steps heading south, which is blocked off at the moment. 'I have asked engineers to save the stairs for access if it is possible, but they have lost a lot of supporting rock from the cliff face and a rockbolting solution would have to find some hard rock in the right places to achieve this.' Councillors will consider the planning application in due course. The next step would be to appoint a contractor with the hope work could start in August. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dating back to the 15th century, Dysart Harbour has a rich history. It once traded with the Dutch and Belgians, with exports of coal and salt ensuring it was a thriving port.
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Vaughan set for quick return after finger injury
Warrington Wolves prop Paul Vaughan is expected to make a quick recovery after suffering a gruesome finger injury in their Challenge Cup quarter-final win over St sustained a compound fracture to his finger just two minutes into Sunday's Cup victory at the Halliwell Jones receiving treatment he was able to return for the latter stages of the contest, but boss Sam Burgess said he will now be assessed before a full return is considered."You've got to be careful with them because the possibility of infection can be pretty bad," Burgess told BBC Radio Merseyside."We've got great medics on hand who cleaned it out and stitched it up. I thought he was brilliant. Regardless of the bump on his hand he managed to get us forward in the second half when we really needed him."It shouldn't be too long depending on what procedure we go with." The Wire edged out St Helens in a bruising encounter which also saw their opponents lose three players to head injury assessments during the course of the 80 his injury, Vaughan was insistent he wanted to return to the field in order to help his side reach the semi-final stage."He wanted to come back on. I don't think he wanted to come off," Burgess added."Once they strapped it up and they put some anaesthetic in to take the pain away he was good as gold."They're all committed to the cause so they wanted to get back on the field."I just think it's part of the game at the moment whether it's head knocks or injuries, you're probably always going to lose someone during a game because of the physical nature of the contest."
