York Knights boss Mark Applegarth has shared his verdict after a heavy defeat to Hull KR with the head coach admitting that tough lessons are being learned, though he ultimately feels his side are going to get better for it.
Despite toppling the Robins in round one, York have now lost heavily in the Challenge Cup and again last night at Craven Park as Hull KR beat the Knights 38-6.
That was in spite of York taking the lead but Hull KR proved clinical in the first half and even when they made their own errors in the second half, the Knights could not take advantage.
Speaking post-match on Sky Sports, Applegarth said: “There was no pressure on us, we’ve gone out and thrown it at them but we’ve ultimately just got to keep chasing them areas that we’re in control of, whether that’s them unforced errors, as you said, or in other moments.
“There’s some pretty harsh lessons for individuals and us as a team in certain passages of play, but there’s other passages of play where we need to get better at it, and that’s what we’re focussing on at the moment.”
He also spoke on his pride, adding: “I’m really proud of how everyone’s stuck together, especially when you’re on a bit of a losing streak where you can start seeing a few splinters form here and there, but one thing I really love about our group, it’s really tight.
“No-one likes it, losing, but you’ve got to go through these sort of times to appreciate the good ones. As I’ve said all along, as long as individuals are learning lessons and we get better as a team over the long term, we’ll stomach some short-term pain.”
Brad Arthur commits to Leeds Rhinos, Hull KR lose back-to-back and Captain’s Challenge rule debated – Click here to listen to this week’s episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
York Knights not deterred by latest loss
It marks the Knights’ 11th loss of the Super League season just a year after being promoted but Applegarth took a pragmatic viewpoint.
“You can’t be scared of failing, you’ve just got to keep on going,” he said.
“There’s a load of our squad that’s not played Super League and they’re getting the chance to do that. We can assess whether we can move forward there and individuals are gaining experience.
“I thought young Harvey Reynolds was outstanding tonight. He’s got his best years ahead of him. I think young Fieldy (Oli Field) as well, so there’s two back rowers there that are going to be great over time.
“As I say, it’s never nice when you’re going through a losing period and you’ve just got to learn to keep level heads. Smooth seats don’t make skilled sailors, do they? So we’ve just got to learn to navigate here, make sure we come out the other side and stay as tight as we are.”
They’ll face Wigan Warriors next week before a four-game streak that sees them take on teams outside the top six, however, Applegarth insisted that the focus remains on Wigan with the intent being to compete in that game.
He said: “We’re just going one week at a time. We’ve said that all year. Even after Round 1 when we managed to get one up on Hull KR, we wasn’t getting carried away with ourselves then.
“It’s full steam into Wigan. We’ll assess that and we’ll go into that and then we’ll worry about what comes after that.”
