BIG decisions were needed at Huntington Stadium this week – and it would seem they’ve been made.

York City Knights had to make major changes in the wake of their sixth defeat in 11 Championship One games, which left them on the very edges of the play-offs.

Having dropped to seventh – just five places above the very foot of professional rugby league – they simply had to do some significant dropping of their own.

It was assumed the man in most danger was head coach James Ratcliffe, especially with Dave Woods having recently joined as director of rugby. Aussie Woods, a successful coach with Castleford and Gateshead in his two other jobs in British rugby league, could easily have shifted across to fill that role.

However, the club decided to take the other route and axe certain players instead. Not just drop them, but axe them.

Long have the coaches complained some weren’t giving their fullest commitment to the cause, be it in training or in games. And it’s now apparent those allegations were aimed at, possibly among others, Joe McLocklan and Danny Hill, who have both been told to find new clubs.

Mark Applegarth and Carl Barrow, who also left the club this week, are probably exempt from such criticism, as their circumstances were different. The former has not shown anything like the form that brought him a clean sweep of Player of the Year awards last term but he has given good service throughout his two-and-a-half years at the club, while nobody can claim Barrow was not proud to pull on his home-town club’s shirt whenever he got the chance.

It has to be said McLocklan has disappointed, however.

He came with a reputation – Ratcliffe often described him as one of the best hookers outside Super League and installed him as vice-captain – but he didn’t deliver in that position or in recent run-outs at stand-off.

He had a few fine performances at loose-forward, hence his position in the Press Player of the Year leaderboard, and he clearly possesses quality, but most observers felt he could have given much more.

Ratcliffe still backed the player publicly – even in today’s Press, he didn’t slate the 23-year-old’s perceived lack of endeavour but simply said he had “not been happy in his rugby”. But the coach’s patience was obviously running thin.

Hill’s refusal to play in the reserves having missed training to go on holiday is not the attitude anyone wants. But he was also, clearly, a top-quality player.

Such circumstances, therefore, can leave coaches with a dilemma. Do they pick the superior player or the player with a superior attitude? Additionally, do club chiefs deem it a coaching failure to not get the best out of every player?

In a week of big decisions, it is clear which avenue the Knights have taken.

Woods explained their thinking. “We told Danny he’s free to look for another club. He won’t be figuring in our plans,” he told The Press.

“He missed a lot of training before I came to the club and when I came he’d been on holiday – and you shouldn’t really be going on holiday mid-season.

“He trained pretty well after that and we picked him for the reserves – he hadn’t played for six to eights weeks so he needed that run-out. But he refused to play and he never came to training (on Tuesday night).

“We need people who are committed and want to play for the club. That’s the line we’ve taken.

“He’s said he’s not interested in playing for the reserves – he said he hadn’t signed up to play second-grade – and would find another club. He said it wouldn’t do him any good playing in the reserves.

“However, we’re trying to build a club – not just a team whereby no matter what they did or didn’t do you’d be happy.

“If you allowed blokes to come and go as they pleased, go on holiday, come back and walk straight into first-grade, it sends the wrong message out to a young bloke who is busting his guts two or three times a week at training. If he sees that happening, then he’d get disillusioned.”

Woods added: “If you’re only playing for the money, you’re playing for the wrong reasons.

“It’s important we get rules and standards in place.

“For example, Nathan Freer got dropped a few weeks ago and went back in the reserves. But his plan was to prove people wrong – which is what you want to hear from blokes.

“Everyone wants to play first-grade – it’s great when they do – but they’ve got to earn it the right way.”

That is an argument nobody can really argue with, even if it does mean a top-notch Championship One player leaves.

As for Ratcliffe, it is fair to say he, too, is not out of the woods yet (pardon the pun).

The club have backed the 40-year-old’s judgement as a coach but, while his job might not necessarily be easier with fewer quality players currently at his disposal, he now has to prove that big decision was the right one.

Hopefully that will come with more fight on the field. Hopefully, too, it will be assisted by the recruitment of players who not only possess quality but also buy into the ethos Woods, Ratcliffe and co are trying to build.

Vote for the players in top form

RIGHT, folks. Recent results might not inspire enthusiasm for what I’m now going to ask, but certain players do deserve credit for their form – and we need your votes to recognise this.

Tomorrow’s game against Blackpool is the last of May and as such we need your votes for the Press Player of the Month.

Email them to peter.martini@ thepress.co.uk by noon on Wednes-day. All who vote get the chance to present the award pitch-side.

The winning player also receives three bonus points for his Press/Northern Rail Player of the Year tally.

Brett Waller rose to third in that table with the three points gained for being man of the match last week at Rochdale.

Jack Lee (2pts) just missed out on that accolade as he continues his rise in the standings, while Chris Clough was deemed our third-best player on the day (1pt) and thus gets on the leaderboard – unfortunately in the week he begins a four-match suspension.

Northern/Press Player of the Year standings: Waterman 16pts, Ross 13, Waller 11, McLocklan 10, Lee 8, Thorman 7, Tuffour 7, Freer 5, Blakeway 5, Applegarth 4, Stamp 3, Fallon 3, Stearman 2, Bromilow 2, Wilson 2, Benson 2, Reittie 2, Hill 2, Ratcliffe 2, Lewis 2, Hardbottle 1, Lineham 1, Clough 1.

THE Knights are selling tickets for their match against London Skolars at the Stoop on Saturday, June 12 (2.30pm).

The game is a curtain-raiser to the Harlequins v Leeds Super League match (5pm) and fans can take in both games for £15 (adults), £10 (over-65s and students) or £5 (under-16s).

To book tickets, call the Knights on 01904 641724 or go to Huntington Stadium. The Knights receive ten per cent cashback from all tickets sold via the club.

Northern Rail 9s and Challenge Cup final tickets are also available from the Knights, who keep a cut of those sales.

THE Knights are running a school half-term holiday club on June 1, 2 and 3, from 10am to 3pm each day, at Heworth ARLC.

Prices are £12 per day or £30 for all three days. Early drop-off is also available from 9am for £2 per day or £5 for all three days.

The club will be run by star player Chris Thorman and the Knights’ development team.

To book a place, phone 01904 641724.