ATA HINGANO insists he’s loving his new role – and Super League will soon see the best of York Knights.
The dynamic Tonga international has found himself playing off the bench and in the unfamiliar loose forward role in recent weeks after losing his stand-off spot to Cody Hunter.
But asked how he’s enjoying life at York, he insisted: “It’s pretty good. I am playing a different role now I’m in the middle.
“I like the contact and I love the grind and going up against the big boys.
“Super League’s definitely a lot faster than the Championship, and a lot more physical, but I love that.”
York have won just three times so far in their maiden Super League campaign, slipping to an eleventh loss when they fell 38-6 at champions Hull KR on Friday.
Hingano, who joined in 2022, insisted: “The scoreline shows we got blown away.
“But we showed ourselves just the kind of style we wanted to play. If we can fix up some of our yardage discipline and some of those errors, we can definitely string it all together.
“We’ve only just started getting some key troops back. It’s a shame we’re now past halfway through the season.
“But I know we can finish well and on our terms. We can definitely still get some results.”
Ex-New Zealand Warriors playmaker Hingano, who featured with Salford and Leigh before switching to York, was a key figure in Knights’ promotion glory.
But coach Mark Applegarth said: “Last year is last year. It’s been and gone.
“I’ve a lot of love for Ata. I really care for him as a person.
“We’ve been in some great battles together and I challenged him after a few games this year about his defensive connections when playing at halfback.
“I don’t think there’s any doubting Ata’s defence if someone runs at him one on one. It was more the mapping stuff I challenged him on.
“But fair play to Ata, he’s taken it all on board.
“Young Cody has come in and taken his chance, but with Ata being as dangerous as he is I still want him playing.
“We’ve challenged him to play loose forward, especially when Thommo’s [Jordan Thompson] been out, and he’s really been enjoying that role.”