A high-profile pre-season signing is getting closer to his York Knights debut, coach Mark Applegarth has confirmed.
Former St Helens outside-back Jon Bennison has been sidelined with a hip problem which required surgery, but is now training with the team and could be back on the field later this month.
Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Tuesday) ahead of Friday’s home game against Leigh Leopards, Applegarth revealed: “He is over his injury.
“Technically he is classed as fully-fit [and] his first team training was today. If you include pre-season, he has been out for about six months.
“You need to give players a bit of time to adapt and get used to a new environment and new teammates.
“I can envisage Jon being available for selection over the next week or two. He has trained really well, how he has attacked his rehab is great, but this week is probably a week too early.”
York Knights injury list revealed
Knights were unable to name an 18th man for their most recent Super League fixture, away to Huddersfield Giants two weeks ago.
The situation has eased since then, but only slightly. Applegarth, whose side were beaten at Hull KR in the Challenge Cup last Saturday, said: “Will Roberts got a head injury playing for Newcastle against Hunslet so he will be stood down, but David Nofoaluma [Cup-tied last week] should be able to come back into contention.
“Will Dagger is progressing through his concussion protocol fine, but he is carrying another bump as well and we are just assessing that to see how it settles down.”
Danny Richardson suffered a quad injury in training ahead of Knights’ home defeat by Wakefield Trinity three weeks ago and was 18th man for last Saturday’s Betfred Challenge Cup tie at Hull KR.
“We will see how he trains this week on it,” Applegarth said. “It may be a week too early, it is very much touch and go with Danny at the moment. It is a bit of a neural issue so we will see how he responds to training.”
Of other casualties, Applegarth revealed: “Sam Wood [dislocated finger] will be back in contention. He wasn’t far off last week and he is good to go which is a welcome addition.
“Bish [Ben Jones-Bishop] has a broken foot and he had surgery last Friday. He is not back in training yet, we are giving him a bit of time to rest that injury, but I think we are looking at around 10-12 weeks.
“Jordan Thompson had biceps surgery and he is progressing with that, but he’ll be another couple of months.
“Toa Mata’afa is back running now, but is six weeks off at best. Liam Harris [hamstring] hasn’t had surgery, but with the nature of the strain, that’s going to be quite a while.”
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Leeds Rhinos forward joins Knights on short-term loan
Leeds Rhinos forward Ben Littlewood has joined York on a week-long loan and will be in the squad for Friday.
Applegarth stated: “He is a player we have been keeping tracks on for a while now. He played against Newcastle for Hunslet on the weekend and we are grateful to Leeds for making him available for loan.
“He is a player I have watched since he was a young lad playing at Lock Lane. I know exactly what he is about, he has got a big body on him and he is very well-coached.
“I speak to [Rhinos reserves coach] Chev Walker regularly about players such as him. He is a very promising player, he gives us a bit of competition for places.
“It is good to have options to select from, it gets rid of any complacency and keeps people on their toes and with a few injuries, it is good to get a player of Ben’s calibre into the squad.”
