JOE Law is “over the moon” to have made the permanent move to York Knights after an impressive loan spell from Wakefield Trinity.
The 20-year-old centre first linked up with the club on transfer deadline day in August, quickly catching the eye with his neat footwork, quick hands, and try-scoring ability.
He finished his nine-match spell with six tries, including a three-minute brace in Whitehaven, as the Knights earned a fourth-placed Betfred Championship finish and run to the play-off semi-final, their best season since 2019.
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And with York aiming to go one better in 2025, Law is delighted to be along for the ride.
Speaking to The Press, he beamed: “I’m over the moon. I’m really happy to be joining permanently.
“I loved my time there for the nine or ten weeks I was there, I loved every bit about it. It was just the right thing for me to make it a permanent move and to be there with the lads, the fans, and everyone around the club permanently.”
Many had expected that if the young centre would return to York, he would do so on loan, and he admits that was the original plan.
“That was what we were speaking about at first,” he explained.
“But when I spoke to some people around me and thought to myself, I thought the best choice of action would just be to make it permanent.
“I just thought ‘there’s no reason that I should be coming on loan.’ It just makes more sense to be here permanently.
“Within the first week, they all made me feel at home and it’s just such an easy club to get along with, the staff around it, the fans, the players. Everyone is so easy-going and easy to get along with.
“And everything that the club is about, it’s everything that I believe in and want to be a part of.”
Law’s permanent move back to the city sees him continue his association with head coach Mark Applegarth, who first brought him to Wakefield as a 14-year-old.
“Mash, I’ve worked with him pretty much six years on the bounce now and ended up at the back end of this year just gone,” said the former Stanley Rangers junior. “It’s great.
“I know everything he’s about and he probably knows everything that I’m about now, so we’ve already got that connection and that understanding. It’s a good relationship between us most of the time!
“I came through the scholarship at Wakefield, I started there when I was in the under 15s.
“It was Mash who brought me there and got me in, he wasn’t the coach at the time, he was still the head of youth.
“I did my two years in the scholarship and then Covid hit in the second year, so I didn’t really play many scholarship games.
“I played one game in the first year but not long, and then in the second year I didn’t play any games because of Covid, so I went into the academy really blind. I hadn’t played any rugby for Wakefield.
“I played three under-17 scholarship games and Mash was coaching the academy at that time. He kind of threw me in, gave me my academy debut when I was 17 in the under 19s against Wigan, which was really good experience.
“He had me in the reserves after that, and then in the first team as well. It’s been a good journey so far, and now it’s brought me to York.”
Joining the Knights amid an injury crisis at centre that forced both Oli Field and Nikau Williams to play out of position, Law was a mainstay until the semi-final.
However, with the club bringing in fellow centres Kieran Buchanan and Jude Ferreira from Batley Bulldogs and Hunslet respectively over the off-season, he knows he will have to fight for his place.
That prospect though is something that he is relishing as he bids to continue the form from his loan spell.
“Obviously it was easy to do that last year when you’re playing with such a good team, when I’m outside just finishing some of the tries off, it can look very easy for me to be doing that,” he admitted.
“I’ve just got to try and pick up where I left off. I’ve got to train hard and get that starting spot solidified first, and then just carry on playing well.
“But there’s a lot of competition in those centre spots that we’ll be competing for in pre-season, but also be learning from each other. You’ve got people like Kieran Buchanan who’s an experienced player, I’ll learn a lot from him. And Jude as well, I’ve played with him once and I get along with him well so it’ll be good.
“I think all athletes and rugby players definitely do [relish competition for places]. It’s having that healthy kind of competition that you need around you.
“No-one really ever takes it in a bad way. It’s just you’re pushing along, you’re pushing each other along to just get the best out of each other.”
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