MARK APPLEGARTH has high hopes for Joe Law to excel with the York Knights, after the young centre joined from Wakefield Trinity on a loan deal until the end-of-the-season.

Law linked back up with Applegarth after the pair had previously worked together at Wakefield, with the York boss first meeting the Knights’ latest addition at just 14-years-old in the Trinity scholarship.

The 20-year-old remains as Applegarth’s only signing since taking the reigns in early June, with Friday being the deadline for Betfred Championship clubs.

But Applegarth has insisted that Law will provide the necessary cover and quality to help bolster the Knights for the remainder of the 2024 campaign.

“Joe is a young, up and coming centre, he’s a very coachable young man, he hits some great lines and is solid defensively,” Applegarth detailed.

“I think that he will add a lot value to our team, he has that dimension in terms of being an out-and-out centre so he allows us to move some other parts around and back into natural positions.

“He also gives us that bit of security, where if we do lose a centre then we have got another centre in our squad and we’re not putting two people out of position to cover what is a specialist position.

“Young Joe Law from Wakefield. I’m really appreciative of Wakefield for allowing us to have Joe until the end of the year, I think that if there is one position that Wakefield are blessed in at the minute, it’s at centre.

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“I’m really happy that they have allowed him to come and I think that he will fit into our squad well, especially with Levi [Edwards] being out for the year.

“It’s really important that we got some cover there, especially if anything was to happen to Jimmy [Keinhorst], Nikau [Williams] or Fieldy [Oli Field] who is covering there too.

“He’s a player that in my opinion will go on to play top level rugby over time, and I hope that we can help develop him at York as I know he will add a lot of value to the squad.”

Applegarth will also be familiar with Law, as the pair had previously linked up at Wakefield, with the former even gifting the centre his Betfred Super League debut against Leeds Rhinos.

Applegarth told the Press: “I’ve coached Joe since he was 14, or I first recruited Joe when he was 14 through the scholarship and into the academy.

“I gave him his Super League debut last year against Leeds, so I know Joe well.

“Wakefield are blessed with some good young centre’s at the moment, especially with what they have currently got and have coming in in the next year.

“I’m really happy and grateful to Wakefield for allowing us to have Joe, and hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial relationship for both that we can get some quality game time out of him, and we can also get some development to bear fruit for Joe and Wakefield further down the line.

 “He should be in training with us from tomorrow so he should be in the mix for Halifax, and I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

The Championship transfer window slams shut on Friday, with the Knights still available to conduct business, should the right player and opportunity arise.

However, Applegarth remains pleased with his squad, should no new injuries arise, and will refuse to bring any new faces in unless they provide long-term benefits to York.

Applegarth explained: “We got Joe in, it is what it is. We’ve had chats about certain things but we don’t want to just bring players in for the sake of bringing players in, it’s important that we stick to the plan and that long-term growth.

“If someone does become available that we feel will add long-term value to York, then I’m sure that Clint [Goodchild, York RLFC chairman] will have that conversation.

“If we can go into the end-of-the-season by getting some players back fit that are currently injured, with the current squad we have got, I would be more than happy with that.”