Mark Applegarth admits Mikey Lewis’ sin-binning played a role in helping York Knights turning the tide to stun Hull KR on Thursday night.
The Knights were 18-6 down at the LNER Community Stadium when Lewis was penalised for intentionally tripping Liam Harris following the York half-back’s kick through the KR line.
Lewis was shown a yellow card by referee Liam Rush and during the 10 minutes the England international was off the field, York pulled themselves back into the contest on the scoreboard. Sam Wood touched down to bring KR back to within touching distance as he made the most of the overlap in Lewis’ absence.
And, with momentum on York’s side, the Knights levelled the scores through Scott Galeano before Ata Hingano slotted the decisive drop goal.
Asked about the incident after the game, Applegarth said: “It is what it is. It doesn’t matter what I made of it, it’s what the referee made of it.
“I thought a sin binning was probably the right call and I didn’t think any more was needed. Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t but it’s important you capitalise on those opportunities when you do.
“It probably helped us out a little bit too because we had a lot of lads playing extended minutes and it took a bit of sting out of the game, them trying to manage being down to 12. That’s just rugby for you isn’t it. I thought we gave a few too many six agains away and I’ll have to look at that.”
Much of the talk pre and post match was surrounding KR’s supposed request to play one of the promoted teams in the opening round ahead of their World Club Challenge outing against Brisbane Broncos.
Applegarth admits that may have got some backs up within his squad, but he certainly did not focus on it.
“I think that headline probably got blown out of proportion a little bit,” he added. “I think it was more they wanted a game more local and maybe not travelling to Toulouse or Catalans away. I think it was more the headline that they went with.
“But whether I’m right or wrong it doesn’t really matter, I think in these first five games, you’re more bothered about how your own team is playing. There’s no point worrying about all that and then you go out there and don’t nail how you want to play.
“Some of the lads have read it and it probably got a few backs up just like it would on any team, but we’ve definitely not focused on that. We’re just focusing on setting how we want to play, we just want to be happy with the standard we’re bringing.
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“I think after you’ve got that first four or five games out the way and you kind of know where you’re at, that’s when you start looking at a bit more fuel for the fire.”
On the win and performance itself, the York Knights boss said: “I’m proud, first and foremost for the lads. The hard work they’ve done and the self belief shone through.
“An historic win and I’m proud to represent the city how we have, but we’ll enjoy tonight and we’ll be straight back at it tomorrow ready for a tough game at Leeds on Friday night.
“We knew we had a chance with all the pressure on Hull KR so we’re pleased with the prep and the game plan but we’ll enjoy it and we’ll be straight back at it tomorrow to get ready for a tough game on Friday at Leeds.
“I thought defensively we were outstanding. There were a couple of tough six again calls, especially on tackle five and how they just kept on showing up for each other, I thought that settled a few down if I’m honest with you.
“It probably worked in our favour and instilled confidence into the lads that’s maybe not played much rugby at this level. It also helped that we did a lot of tryline defence in pre-season making them do 45 tackles straight.”
