York Knights suffer lengthy injury blow as boss explains decision to drop captain in Castleford win

York Knights have picked up a fresh injury blow heading into their Magic Weekend game against Huddersfield Giants.

The North Yorkshire outfit will travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium full of confidence, after an incredible defensive display saw them defeat Castleford Tigers on Friday night.

Winning 20-14, the Knights claimed just their fourth win of the season, with Scott Gaelano, David Nofoaluma, Cody Hunter and Oli Field all crossing for tries.

However, two of the major talking points to come from the on-field action, were injury concerns and a huge selection call.

In an incident that took a shine off the evening, back-rower Harvey Reynolds needed to leave the field due to an elbow injury.

York boss Mark Applegarth has now confirmed to the media that the 22-year-old has suffered a full dislocation, though the timeline for his recovery is not yet known.

“He’s had a scan this morning [Monday],” Applegarth said. “Once we finish this [media event], I should get a bit more news on that.

“Apart from that, we pulled up pretty good, just a few bumps and bruises. It was obviously a pretty physical game on a tight field at Castleford but nothing that a few days R&R can’t reset, shall we say.”

To make matters worse for the club, Sam Wood has been suspended for the next two games, so that is another selection call for the boss to make ahead of their Merseyside trip.

The boss also revealed that Ben Jones-Bishop will remain absent for this week’s tie, with the veteran winger set to miss at least the next fortnight as he continues to recover from a broken foot.

York Knights boss explains key selection call that saw captain dropped

The other big discussion point was the fact that Applegarth dropped half-back and captain Liam Harris, and instead chose to go with veteran hooker Paul McShane, and play him out of position.

It was a call that raised plenty of eyebrows pre-game, but one that certainly paid off given McShane had a hand in two tries, and was named Man of the Match following the win.

“Let’s not forget Paul McShane was a Man of Steel,” the York boss said, explaining the call. “He’s still as sharp as ever in that brain and I just thought we needed his guidance in that position for where we’re currently at.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve been very inconsistent in certain aspects of our game, and if there’s one thing that I get from Macca, it’s consistency.

“It was nothing personal on Liam. I love him to bits. I think he’s an absolute champion player and person. But at the end of the day, we had 72 points put on us, and now we’re chasing a response.

“You look great if it comes off, as it did on Friday night, but each week’s different, isn’t it?

“I’m really happy with how Macca performed for us there, but also really happy with how Liam responded, and I’m sure a bit of adversity won’t do him any harm in the long run.”