YORK KNIGHTS coach Mark Applegarth waxed lyrical about the heroics of Samoan duo David Nofoaluma and Toa Mata’afa.
On debut after signing, officially on loan from Newcastle Thunder, Nofoaluma bounced back from the hit of Halifax Panthers’ liquidation in some fashion with a stunning brace.
“I thought he was excellent,” said Applegarth. “You know you’re what you’re going to get with David Nofoaluma.
“We had a couple of bumps for Scott Galeano against York, so it was a forced change. I thought he was a stand-out performer tonight and really impressed me. That’s what we signed him for.
“Toa also had a good game and saved a pair of match-winning tries from (Sam) Lisone. It takes a lot of great character to make a tackle like that. It definitely deserves a special mention.”
The pick-ups of Nofoaluma and Mata’afa, the latter of whom last played in France with Lézignan, represent a shrewd recruitment drive for the Super League newbies.
Though singular moments – particularly from new signings – will be a talking point of the shock victory, with Danny Richardson’s field-goal proving decisive, Applegarth was keen to nod to his side’s collective spirit.
“We put a drop-goal over because we knew it’d make it a two-score game, which put a lot of pressure on Hull in terms of scoreboard pressure,” he said.
“I thought they threw everything at us, and it was a great test of character for us, our tryline defence and building some grit.
“They’re really easy words to say, building that togetherness team spirit that you want, but that’s how you build it – by going through tests like that.”