{"id":432158,"date":"2026-01-23T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432158\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:17:09","slug":"megan-pakulis-returns-to-york-valkyrie-after-nrlw-spell-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/432158\/","title":{"rendered":"Megan Pakulis returns to York Valkyrie after NRLW spell \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/megan-pakulis-returns-to-york-valkyrie-after-nrlw-spell\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to Megan Pakulis returns to York Valkyrie after NRLW spell\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img width=\"675\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/78823493_PakulisM-Injury-250713_CD_3420_2025720163030-crop-675x360.jpg\" class=\"bestwp-post-thumbnail-single wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>YORK VALKYRIE have secured the high-profile return of Canada star Megan Pakulis.<\/p>\n<p>The loose-forward is back after a year with Gold Coast Titans, where she became the first North American to play in the NRLW and made four appearances, all off the bench and two resulting in wins.<\/p>\n<p>Pakulis first joined York in June 2024, and was a key figure in the club retaining the Women\u2019s Super League title that season.<\/p>\n<p>After three Challenge Cup appearances at the beginning of last year, Gold Coast came calling, but the 29-year-old has made a quick return with York looking to return to trophy contention under new coach Leon Pryce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels special to be back with the Valkyrie,\u201d said Pakulis, who has featured at the past two World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis group of girls is incredibly talented and driven, and I\u2019m proud to be part of the team again. I\u2019m excited for what we can achieve together this season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>York have also retained centre Adaoha Akwiwu and versatile forward Agnes Wood for another year.<\/p>\n<p>Akwiwu made five appearances after joining last July, returning to the 13-a-side code following a spell in rugby union.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis will be my first full season as a Valkyrie and with a fresh coaching staff and new players there\u2019s a growing energy at York this year,\u201d said Akwiwu, 22.<\/p>\n<p>Welsh international Wood scored five tries in ten games last season, her first since making a permanent switch from Sheffield Eagles.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old said: \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great squad heading into this season and I can\u2019t wait to get back out on the pitch with the girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/stuart-barrow-sets-out-englands-plans-for-world-cup-preparation\/\" title=\"Stuart Barrow sets out England&#039;s plans for World Cup preparation\" class=\"article__link main-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stuart Barrow sets out England&#8217;s plans for World Cup preparation<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/leigh-leopards-appoint-joint-head-coaches-to-replace-kieron-purtill\/\" title=\"Leigh Leopards appoint joint head coaches to replace Kieron Purtill\" class=\"article__link main-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Leigh Leopards appoint joint head coaches to replace Kieron Purtill<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/barrow-raiders-boss-calls-for-cumbrian-representation-in-womens-origin\/\" title=\"Barrow Raiders boss calls for Cumbrian representation in Women&#039;s Origin\" class=\"article__link main-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Barrow Raiders boss calls for Cumbrian representation in Women&#8217;s Origin<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/cross-code-star-fully-committed-to-england-for-world-cup\/\" title=\"Cross-code star \u2018fully committed\u2019 to England for World Cup\" class=\"article__link main-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cross-code star \u2018fully committed\u2019 to England for World Cup<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totalrl.com\/stuart-barrow-names-latest-england-womens-squad\/\" title=\"Stuart Barrow names latest England Women&#039;s squad\" class=\"article__link main-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stuart Barrow names latest England Women&#8217;s squad<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YORK VALKYRIE have secured the high-profile return of Canada star Megan Pakulis. The loose-forward is back after a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-432158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}