YORK City Knights star Pauli Pauli has been ruled out for the rest of the 2022 season due to a long-term ACL injury.

Pauli was taken off the field hurt in the 20-16 defeat to Bradford Bulls earlier this month, with scans now showing that the prop forward will miss the rest of York’s current campaign.

The towering front-rower has been a key player for the Knights this year following his off-season switch from Betfred Super League side Salford Red Devils.

Pauli has made 19 appearances, scoring two tries, as James Ford’s side have earned a return to the Betfred Championship play-offs with three regular season matches to spare.

The ex-Combined Nations All Stars international will not take part in the season-defining series though in another huge blow to the club, having already seen year-ending injuries sustained by starting players Will Oakes and Masi Matongo.

“Pauli’s suffered an ACL injury so he’ll need an operation and he’ll be out for the season,” head coach Ford confirmed.

“It’s a big blow for us because he’s turned games our way at times and he’s been really hard to handle with the ball.

“I’m gutted for him. He’s a great bloke and he’s a very different person to what people think he is.

“He’s a great leader and I’m hopeful we can keep him here and see a better version of Pauli Pauli going forward.

“We’ve got a stronger relationship than we had at the start of the season.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a player like this at York. I think we’ve learned about how to coach, condition and manage someone like that.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He responds well to being told how it is and he just cracks on with it.”

Pauli's absence, combined with that of Matongo, leaves York without their two starting props and saw Ford employ half-back Ata Hingano at loose forward in Friday's 20-12 win over Sheffield Eagles.

“We signed those two (Pauli and Matongo) for a reason, to play a certain way and we’ve lost 130 kilos in one and 115 in the other.

“We’ve lost some of our ability to knock people’s front doors down.

“We probably need to play a little bit differently and hopefully Ata can be the key for that.

“We played him in a Graeme Horne role, dominating our middles around on goal-line and in midfield.

“When Horny left, we thought we could replace him just by coaching other players up. I still believe you can do that in.

“But it’s taking longer than I’d hoped clearly. I think the easiest solution is to get someone who can do it already.

“Ata is probably better at it than Horny and Horny was some player.”

The victory over Sheffield saw the Knights bounce back from the humiliating 100-4 rout suffered at Leigh Centurions.

Since that defeat, which saw a century of points conceded for the first time in the club's history, changes have been made both on and off the field.

Ford explained: “We’re professional sportspeople and we need to be professional sportspeople 365 days a year, not just every Sunday and not just on days when we're training, because they train well.

“We need to make sure that we’re doing the right things away from the club.

"We need to make sure that we’re upholding the highest possible professional standards and giving ourselves the best opportunity to compete with the top teams in this division.”