Word of mouth helped convince new York City Knights utility forward Mark Blanchard to sign up for what he hopes will be another positive charge.

The versatile 23-year-old did some research of his own after hearing the Knights were interested in snapping him up - and he liked what he heard.

He said: "I heard they were looking for players so I put my name out that I was interested. I also spoke to a lot of people like Tommy Gallagher and Dwayne Barker and they spoke really highly of Mick Cook having played under him at Leeds Academy.

"I have always said if I'm happy within myself then I will do well and I have only heard good reports about York, coach Mick Cook and John Guildford. And they had such a good season last year.

"I'm looking to help build on all that, have a big pre-season, and hopefully York will continue on the way up in National League One and maybe even push for the play-offs."

Signing for the Knights is something of a new beginning after a turbulent few weeks that saw his Super League dreams with Hull KR snatched away, and then being released by coach Justin Morgan after eight years on and off at the club he signed for as a 15-year-old.

There may well be an element of wanting to show Rovers what they're missing when the loose forward-cum-centre rocks up to Craven Park in the blue and white of York next year. But it won't be his biggest motivation.

He said: "There will be an element of that but the fans have been really good with me and I think it's time to move on.

"I'm looking forward to going back and showing them what they're missing but I'm more hopeful of showing the York fans what I can do."

What he can do in the past season alone includes playing everywhere except hooker and full-back and scoring ten tries in 20 games - and he is hungry to banish the pain of missing out on Super League.

Hull KR had turned full-time for the last two months of the season to help push them through the play-offs into rugby league's top tier but were eliminated, ironically by Halifax, the same side who shattered York's dreams of promotion last season.

"I was devastated, to be honest," said Blanchard. "We trained well all week and, without being arrogant or over-confident, we just thought we were going to win but on the day it didn't go right for us.

"It felt horrible though - especially after the game in the changing room.

"When you lose games like that - when you've trained your best and played hard to win - to lose is just the worst feeling in the world. It's important to remember that because you never want to feel it again."

Updated: 09:55 Tuesday, October 11, 2005