VICTORIOUS York Knights skipper Liam Harris had no doubt Ata Hingano would nail their famous winner – because he “trusts his life” with his team-mate.
New Zealander stand-off Hingano, 28, coolly booted a 76th minute field-goal to give the newly-promoted club an historic 19-18 victory over champions Hull KR in their first-ever Super League game.
Scrum-half Harris initially took possession on the crucial final play before handing on to his colleague.
He explained: “That’s always my responsibility as first choice [to decide].
“But I saw them coming pretty hard with a kick pressure. And I trust Ata with my life.
“He’s been my half partner for the last few years so we’ve always practised for that. And it paid off tonight because he was in the right position – and he nailed it. Fair play to Ata.”
Although it signalled one of the biggest moments in the club’s history, ice-cool Hingano, who joined York from Leigh in 2022, barely celebrated as most of the LNER Community Stadium entered delirium.
Harris, who hails from Hull and played briefly for both of the city’s clubs, added: “Not much fazes him, at all, ever.
“When I’m trying to get a little bit more out of him, that’s the same reaction I get anyway!
“So, you know, whether good or bad, that’s just him. He’s always really, really relaxed.
“I’m just so proud of him tonight the way that he did manage the game with us; he stuck to what we needed to do and eventually we got that win.”
Treble-winners Rovers, of course, had asked Super League to face one of the three promoted teams for their season opener, ahead of playing NRL premiers Brisbane Broncos in Thursday’s World Club Challenge.
Harris, who takes York to Leeds Rhinos on Friday, said: “I can’t put it all into words.
“There’s a really good buzz around the group, but we believed we could win this game.
“I think we were the only people in the whole of the UK that thought that!
“It sounds stupid but we were getting asked questions during the week like, is it disrespectful that they asked us to play us in round one?
“And our answer was ‘no’, because we would have wanted them: we wanted to play the best and test ourselves to see where we’re at.
“We managed to get a win and it’s important we enjoy it. But at the same time, we’re not going to get carried away with that, either.
“There’s so much that we could improve on.”