MARK APPLEGARTH has challenged an inconsistent York Knights to get rid of their “soft underbelly.”
The Knights had strung together three consecutive top-flight wins, but head into Saturday’s match against St Helens hoping to avoid a third consecutive defeat after losses to both Toulouse Olympique and Huddersfield Giants over the last fortnight.
Both matches had seen York stage a fightback in the second half – but not before having trailed 28-0 (Toulouse) and 24-10 (Huddersfield).
Applegarth cut a frustrated figure after York’s latest defeat, feeling as though his side were well below their best.
“For the standards that we want to set for ourselves and pride ourselves on, it wasn’t good enough,” the head coach explained of the 24-22 loss.
“I think the most disappointing thing out of the weekend was that we got outdone on effort, on the effort-based things that we’ve always pride ourselves on. That’s what I’ve challenged the group on.
“When you’re scoring 22 points, it should be enough to win a game of rugby. The manner that we conceded some of those points probably hurt me more than anything else.
“But it’s a fresh week, and a fresh game. There’s some really good lessons to learn out of that.
“We’ve just got to make sure we keep moving forward, which we will do, and keep chasing that standard and that consistency in what we do.”
Applegarth believes York’s current eleventh-placed standing is an accurate reflection of their time in Super League so far, but reinforced the mantra that his side will never get too high or too low dependent on their results.
He explained: “We all want to be challenging at the right end of the table, and we all want to be competing for trophies. But the table doesn’t lie, does it?
“Over the course of a year and currently, as a group, we’re in an accurate position for what our performances are showing.
“There’s areas of our game that we’ve got to get better at consistently. I think when we’re on point, we look really good, but there’s still that soft underbelly that we need to get rid of.
“That’s part of the process of becoming a champion team, isn’t it?
“You’ve got to highlight these areas of weakness while not getting too obsessed and too low on it all and also highlight your areas of strength and make sure you keep championing them.
“Every week, whether we’ve had a good win or a tough loss, we won’t get too ahead of ourselves. We’re just going one week at a time.”