Vaughan had been named in the Dragons’ extended squad for Sunday’s clash with the Bulldogs, however he has now been ruled out for the season after suffering the injury on Tuesday. 

The injury is to the opposite leg to the one he injured in the Dragons loss to the Warriors two weeks ago. 

The Origin forward was in visible pain after the incident occurred, with the 27-year-old struggling to put any weight on the injured foot. 

“Paul suffered a season-ending injury to his foot in a freak incident at training,” Dragons head of performance Nathan Pickworth said. “Paul's foot injury occurred on the opposite leg to the one he previously suffered against the New Zealand Warriors in Round 21.”

While disappointed to have his season come to an end earlier than anticipated, Vaughan is looking forward to supporting his teammates as they prepare for a run at the finals. 

“I'm devastated that my season has come to an end so suddenly today,” Vaughan said.

“However, I'll continue to support the boys for the rest of the year, and I look forward to coming back bigger and better in 2019.”

The injury comes as Dragons skipper Gareth Widdop continues his recovery from a shoulder injury. Initially suspected to miss three to six weeks, the five-eighth could be back as early as next weekend. 

“I think they’re playing it week by week, they tossed up maybe even next week the way he’s been going,” Widdop’s replacement Kurt Mann said. “But it could be the week after as well, that first week of the finals.

“He’s so crucial to what we do. He’s our skipper, so we need him towards the back-end of the year.”