YORK Knights head coach Andrew Henderson has stressed the importance and value of developing the young rugby talent in the city.

Henderson has made no secret of his willingness to give young players a chance in his squad, and has fielded seven players under the age of 20 so far this term.

Five of those - AJ Towse, Myles Harrison, Ben Barnard, Brad Ward and Harry Price - have all progressed through local amateur sides Heworth and York Acorn, as has newest recruit, Oli Pratt, whom the Knights announced had joined the club on loan from Betfred Super League strugglers Wakefield Trinity until the end of the season yesterday.

Utilising York's pool of local talent is something that is often in the back of Henderson's mind, and he believes that it is a "really important" aspect of his role at York.

"I value development, I value developing young players and I value the connections that you need to have with your local community," he explained.

"I looked at the Super League clubs in pre-season and thought about where the players are from.

"I think, for us as a club, it's great that we can bring back local talent to our club.

"I think that it helps with the connection with the fan base and also for me as a coach, I just always feel that if players are from that area, there's going to be a sense of pride to play for the club as well."

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However, Henderson admits that he is not just choosing homegrown talent because they are from the local area – they must have the talent and quality to be able to play Betfred Championship rugby.

“I’m not just going to say that we’re going to give players from the local community game time or an opportunity if they’re not of the right standard,” he admitted.

“It’s not just a charity that we’re going to give these guys a chance. They’ve still got to meet certain criteria to be able to walk through the door at the Knights.

“There’s a talent mandate that we adhere to here and there’s certain things that they need to tick on those boxes to be invited here.

“But what I will encourage is if we have talented players in our local area, I’d rather give those guys an opportunity to come through our system than to have to scout from outside the area.

“If they have the potential and the talent to potentially be a first team player here in the future, it doesn’t have to be for the now.

York Press: Another former Heworth youngster, Brad Ward, scores acrobatically for the Knights in their Betfred Challenge Cup Third Round tie against West Bowling.Another former Heworth youngster, Brad Ward, scores acrobatically for the Knights in their Betfred Challenge Cup Third Round tie against West Bowling. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

“When you bring in young players, it’s about developing for the future, so if we see that there’s potential there, then I would certainly welcome them and be encouraged to give them an opportunity.

“We’ve got some great clubs in our local area that are producing some wonderful talent, so why wouldn’t we try encourage that and work with that?

“It just makes sense to me to have people that are from that area and connected to your club, they have a sense of pride to play for that club, and that’s why I’ve tried to go this way and bring back players that have maybe left the York clubs to try different things.

“If these younger players go on to bigger and better things, at a higher level, then that’s great, and we’ve done our job in helping them in their development journey.

“But if that then doesn’t work out, there may be a pathway and an opportunity here for them and that’s what we’re looking for.

“We’re trying to create opportunities for our younger players and players from our local area.”