York Knights head coach Mark Applegarth has admitted that he would be ‘100% interested’ in the club signing Cronulla Sharks’ Cameron McInnes, however, he’s denied any knowledge of a deal being made.
McInnes had previously been linked to NRL expansion club Perth Bears before talks collapsed and that’s seen Super League become his likely landing spot, with York Knights one of the clubs name-checked.
When asked about McInnes in his pre-match presser, shared on the club’s YouTube channel, Applegarth said: “I don’t know, you’d have to ask Clint (Goodchild, owner) on that one.”
He did go on to admit that McInnes was a player that he was a fan of and someone that he would be interested in coaching, given the player’s pedigree as a top talent in the NRL for the best part of a decade.
Applegarth said: “Cam is a quality player and I think anyone that has followed rugby league for the last few years would know that.
“Is he a player that I’d be interested in? 100% he is, not only for what he can do on the field but I think culturally with the standards that a player like that sets for himself.
“You listen to how his current head coach, Craig Fitzgibbon, speaks about him and I think that tells you everything you need to know. If he is linked with us, excellent, but you’d have to ask Clint if there is any truth in that.”
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York Knights boss addresses Cam McInnes reports
A New South Wales representative in 2024, McInnes is adept at both hooker and loose forward and he’s highlighted that over the course of a 12-year career that has seen him rack up 229 NRL appearances.
In Applegarth’s eye, McInnes fits the profile of player who can bolster the Knights’ core squad and ensure they can compete in Super League, with a number of additions of a similar ilk already doing that with both Sam Wood and Paul Vaughan name-checked, but David Nofoaluma being another prime example.
Of if McInnes’ profile suits York, Applegarth said: “Course it is, we’re on a journey ourselves and we’re not naive enough to think we wouldn’t have to supplement the current squad we’ve got.
“We know that we’ve got a good core group and this year is great that we’re exposing that core group to Super League and we’ve supplemented it with players such as Sam Wood and Paul Vaughan etc, but we also know we need to keep on strengthening.”
He added: “If players of Cam’s calibre come available and Clint can get deals such as that signed then I’d be over the moon and delighted because they’re only going to strengthen, not only what we do on the field but what we do off the field as well.
“If Clint has got anything to announce then I’m sure he will announce it.”
