Where is all the York talent in Knights squad?

Fox: “It was great to be playing here again. It was like being back home. I went into the wrong changing rooms when we got here.”

Guildford: “That second try brought a few memories back.”

Fox: “I loved playing in front of the York fans. I bet it’s the same for Jack Stearman. He looked good today. Is he the only one from York? You should get more York lads in the team.”

Guildford, sharp as a tack: “Well sign on then. You can have £250 per match – wages have gone up since you were last here.”

Joking aside, Fox had a valid point, and one The Press actually wrote an article about in the pre-season pull-out ahead of the 2010 campaign – the lack of York-born players in the Knights’ side.

We spoke back then to York legend and current reserves coach Mick Ramsden, who bemoaned the dearth of local talent in last season’s squad, a dearth which has continued into this year.

Fox, now an England international of course, was actually incorrect in thinking Stearman was the only York lad in Sunday’s line-up: teenager Ed Smith, a fringe player making his way in the game, was another – and didn’t he do well against Super League opposition.

But apart from those two, and Tom Lineham (who hasn’t played for the first team this year due to injury and is soon to leave for Hull FC anyway), you’d have to delve into the reserves to find any more local lads in the Huntington Stadium ranks.

(Lineham actually hails from South Milford but is an honorary Yorkie having been a student in the Selby area and at York College. He played junior rugby in York, too, with the rugby union club at Clifton Park before switching to the 13-a-side code.) Contrast that with the Knights’ National League Two title-winning side of 2005, when Ramsden was finishing his long career with his home-town club just as Fox was beginning his with a storming breakthrough season.

In addition to those two, we had Dan Potter, Darren Callaghan, Lee Paterson, Mark Cain, Jonny Liddell, Scott Rhodes and Craig Forsyth. You could probably also count Chris Smith, then of Cawood, as a local lad.

That’s ten Yorkies, out of 17 in the team, regularly wearing their home-town jersey with pride. Ironically, the Knights had almost as many from Hull in the 17 that took on Hull KR on Sunday – a fact which hit home even more starkly the scarcity of York’s home-grown talent.

Ramsden made a good point in the article last year, a point which still rings true some 16 months later.

“There was always some benefit with having a nucleus of York players, particularly from the support point of view,” he said.

“There’s always a connection with the supporters knowing local players personally – I experienced that when work colleagues, friends and family would always show interest in how you were getting on.

“They all wanted to come down and watch their local lads play, and you always had that pride playing for your home town.”

So, if you’re going to get more home-town pride, and bigger attendances as local supporters watch their own local lads represent their city, why don’t the current York outfit have many Yorkies in the team?

For a start, there’s probably a dearth of talent in the city at present – how many Yorkies are knocking about at other professional clubs (Fox aside)? The Knights, therefore, cannot really be blamed for signing players from elsewhere to help the team compete at Championship level.

Moreover, a quick glance at the amateur game in the city – York Acorn finished bottom of the National Conference premier division and Heworth bottom of division two – suggests rugby league in York is at a low ebb at present.

Obviously, it might be one of those cyclical things, where a clutch of good York players all come around at the same time – with 2005 being one of those vintage years.

But then it’s also important for people to work at it, to encourage York youngsters not only to take up the game but enjoy it so much they stick with it and ultimately get good enough to break through into the professional ranks.

The older generations also need to talk up the game and continue to support it, bringing their kids and/or grandkids with them… rather than moan about the passing of bygone “good old” days and not come back, thereby meaning the sport loses not only them but their kids and grandkids too.

Current head coach Dave Woods is hoping improved links with local amateur clubs and the player pathway that’s in place, coupled with the work in the community undertaken by the likes of Stearman and Chris Thorman, will help more Yorkies make the grade in the coming years.

“You want local kids coming through and it will hopefully happen,” he said. “I can’t speak for previous years but if they weren’t getting an opportunity to come through they’re not going to be able to play.

“We now have quite a few in the reserves – hopefully they’ll be ready to come through to the first grade soon – and the club have a junior system to make sure we have juniors coming through.

“Jack and Chris are doing good stuff in schools as well and that’s bringing kids into the game.

“We’ve started to have a better relationship with the amateur clubs – before they were reluctant to send lads to us – and we need to work hard with them.”

He added: “In some ways it’s up to the kids to come through as well. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time and effort.”

THE likes of Ed Smith and Tom Lineham at least show this area’s conveyor belt has not stopped rolling.

As revealed in The Press this week, Smith, along with reserves prop Josh Mortimer, has been picked for Yorkshire Colleges and is tipped for England Colleges selection. He should be boosted, too, by his display against Super League opposition.

Lineham, meanwhile, could become the next Knights player to progress from Huntington Stadium to rugby league’s top tier – following the likes of Fox, Matt Blaymire, Jason Golden, Ian Kirke, Danny Brough and Ryan Esders – after gaining a short-term contract with Hull.

Hopefully both can go on to join the likes of Fox, Ramsden et al as role models for other York kids hoping to make their way in the game.

NATHAN FREER added to his growing tally in The Press Player of the Year competition with another maximum haul this week.

Freer, who collected his Player of the Month award as voted for by Press readers before the cup tie against Hull KR, went on to win our man-of-the-match accolade and therefore another three points.

Pushing him close were the busy Anthony Thackeray (2pts) and two-try Mark Barlow (1pt).

Press Player of the Year standings: Davies 15pts, Freer 9, Sutton 8, Lee 8, Massey 7, Straugheir 6, Thorman 6, Presley 5, Benson 4, Clarke 3, Jones 3, Bush 3, Waterman 2, Lewis 2, Esders 2, Thackeray 2, Barlow 1, Stearman 1.

THE Knights will be re-showing today’s first-team match at Barrow on the big screen in Bar 13 tomorrow from 1.15pm, prior to the reserves match against Whitehaven (2.30pm).

Entry to tomorrow’s match is free for season ticket holders, otherwise £4 for adults and £1 for under-16s otherwise. The reserves are also at home on Thursday night to Keighley (8pm).

THE Knights now have DVDs of the win in Toulouse in stock at their Roland Court office, priced at £6. DVDs can be ordered over the phone on 01904 767404.