Dons dealt injury blow as key player undergoes knee surgery

The pick of the Doncaster pack in the opening weeks of the 2025 campaign, the former Super League star sat out last weekend’s win against high-flying Toulouse at the Eco-Power Stadium after undergoing a knee operation on the Thursday.

Head coach Richard Horne admitted after the game that they were aware of Pauli’s knee problem but had hoped to ‘nurse’ him through the campaign.

“We thought we could get him through the season with rehab but after the first couple of games we sort of realised it wasn’t going to work,” he told the Free Press. “He was playing well even with a bad knee but we decided to get the knee cleaned out. It was only a minor procedure so he could only be out for between four and six weeks. It depends how he reacts to the rehab and how quickly we can get him moving again.

“I’m in no doubt that there will be some games where we will miss him. He’s a big man and he’s hard to handle and he’s got that off-load which the other players are starting to get used to. We’ve just got to find other ways to break down teams.

“But we aren’t going to and try rush him because we’ve shown again against Toulouse that we’ve got quality players who can come in and do a fantastic job.”

Horne, who could also be without second-rower Jacob Jones in the club’s next game against York on Sunday week, admits that he still doesn’t know his best team but added: “We are getting there.”

Although having another blank weekend due to Challenge Cup ties gives his players the chance to get over two tough games against top-four sides, Horne said: “I’d rather be playing this weekend. If you have too much time between games you can overthink things at times. Whereas if we’ve got a game you can keep it simple and just fix one or two areas. The players don’t buy into it if you give them six or seven things to try and do – it just goes in one ear and out the other.

“We’ll keep it simple in the build up to the York game. Obviously we need to tidy one or two things up when we’ve got the ball and throw a bit more shape and be a bit more clinical in that area, so that will be a big focus for us.”