DONCASTER forward Pauli Pauli is ready to put in the hard yards to make sure he is fully primed for any play-off opportunity.
The powerhouse prop has found minutes on the pitch hard to come by of late, with the 31-year-old’s season interrupted by a knee injury and Richard Horne’s side performing consistently.
Pauli, who has been at Doncaster since 2024, when he moved from York, played twice on loan to Hunslet in June.
And he made his first Doncaster appearance since May, when he came off the bench during the recent 22-10 home win over Batley, which was his side’s fifth victory in six.
Horne knows that with his NRL and Super League experience, when he is firing on all cylinders, the Australian-born player of Samoan heritage, who figured for the Combined All Stars against England in 2021, is an asset worth utilising.
And Pauli, who served Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights before moving to the UK and turning out in the top flight for Wakefield and the old Salford, is eager to get back into the thick of things.
Following Sunday’s impressive 46-18 win over Oldham, in which Pauli was not selected despite being in the 21-man squad, Doncaster have five regular-season matches remaining before the play-offs.
The run-in includes three games in eight days, at home to North Wales on Sunday, away to Barrow the following Wednesday and against Midlands at the recently-renamed Doncaster Sports Village on Sunday, August 16.
Having enjoyed his 20-minute stint against Batley, Pauli is plotting further action and explained: “Being back out there was great and I was grateful for the opportunity.
“I want to keep working hard and improving my sharpness and help the team work on getting even better so we go into the play-offs in as good a place as we can.”