ON Thursday, Mark Applegarth marked one year as York Knights head coach. On Saturday, he’ll lead the club out at Wembley.
It’s fair to say it’s been a successful move for both parties up to now, but their ambitions are such that only victory in the 1895 Cup final will suffice as an anniversary celebration.
When Applegarth replaced Andrew Henderson as York boss, the team were languishing in twelfth place in the Championship – a promotion/relegation play-off spot.
But a run of twelve wins in 16 games lifted them all the way up to fourth and into a play-off journey only ended by a narrow defeat to Super League-bound Wakefield Trinity.
Defeat in each of their first three league games this season suggested that momentum might have been lost, but a run of nine wins in ten has not only lifted them into the top four, but into a cup final too.
For Applegarth, whose only previous head coach role lasted only just over the twelve-month mark overseeing Wakefield’s relegation in 2023, it’s been sweet progress.
“I think I’ve got a fantastic bunch,” said Applegarth, who had two spells with York as a player, making 115 appearances.
“We’ve added to the squad from last year (14 new signings include Ben Jones-Bishop, Toa Mata’afa and Scott Galeano) but we also lost some key personnel (such as Will Jubb and AJ Towse).
“If I had to highlight one (addition) it would be Paul McShane. He’s been an excellent signing for us.
“I’m really enjoying it. I enjoyed it at Wakefield – I know it was a different sort of context.
“I remember saying then that some years you know you’re going to be up against it and you’re going to have to fight, but then there’s other years when you’re looking at your squad and thinking ‘we’ve got a team capable of doing something this year’.
“I said right at the start of the year to our lads that we had a squad capable of doing something.
“But you could argue eight or nine teams in the Championship have that, so it’s really important you don’t ahead of yourself. You go week-by-week.
“We’ve managed to get to the final now and we don’t just want to get to the final and be happy losers, we’re doing everything we can to try and get that victory.”
A Wembley occasion – the Knights’ second after losing to Saturday’s opponents Featherstone Rovers four years ago – will be a special one for everyone at the club, from players to staff.
None more so than Australian chairman Clint Goodchild, who took over the club at the beginning of 2022 and wants to see York reach Super League under his ownership.
“Clint is doing some fantastic things behind the scenes in terms of progressing the infrastructure and all that sort of stuff,” said Applegarth.
“This is for Clint, for David Dickson who is a big part of things behind the scenes, for (general manager) Neil Gulliver, the people who don’t get highlighted much and would probably get embarrassed to be talked about now.
“It would be good to see them watch the team they’ve put a hell of a lot of effort into building walk out at Wembley.
“I think the whole concept (of the 1895 Cup) is great. Teams outside Super League rarely get to experience a cup final. It could be once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of people to experience that, including myself.
“But we also want to go down there and win the thing. We’re not happy just getting to the final. We’ll be doing everything we can to take on that last hurdle and win silverware.”