YORK KNIGHTS coach Mark Applegarth admits he sees a future for veteran star Paul McShane as a loose forward.
The ex-England hooker switched to the No13 role when Denive Balmforth entered the fray during Friday’s thrilling 38-30 loss against Warrington Wolves.
He added a new dimension to his side’s attack as they threatened another comeback victory like their opening night success over Hull KR.
McShane, 36, has been one of Super League’s best hookers over the last decade and more, winning Man of Steel with Castleford Tigers in 2020.
But Applegarth revealed: “We trained a bit this week with Macca at 13.
“When we do get teams on the front foot, I really like the idea of having both Denive and Macca on that field, so it was no surprise there.
“I thought Macca did exactly what you’d expect a player like that to do: he just slots in and gets on with the job doesn’t he?
“When we’re on the ascendancy it’s great to have two nines on the field.
“Macca controls a lot of the structure from nine in that middle third, so if we can move him to 13 and keep it quick I think it suits his game.
“And it suits the modern game doesn’t it, with these rucks how they are, so it’s something we’ve looked at all through pre-season and going into the season.
“It’s just a case of making sure you do it at the right time isn’t it?”
McShane might get more action at 13 given starting loose forward Jordan Thompson came off injured and could be sidelined for some time.
The ex-Hull FC and Castleford forward will certainly miss Saturday’s Challenge Cup game against Keighley Cougars.
Applegarth added: “I think he’s torn his bicep.
“Well, it looks bigger anyhow, so we’re presuming he’s torn it!
“Jordy couldn’t pass and he just didn’t feel right, and we didn’t want to risk him putting him back out and making it worse than it already seems.
“We’re hoping that we’ve caught it early enough, but it’s looking like there’s some sort of bicep injury.”
York came from 16-0 down to lead 18-16 in the first half and also mounted a comeback in the second half only to fall narrowly short.
Applegarth added: “I don’t think we had a good ball set for that first 20 minutes.
“We’ve just got to lick our wounds, change focus next week onto the Cup, and then we’ll roll onto Wigan after that.”