Coach's 'above & beyond' warning as York Knights bid to create another huge upset v Leeds Rhinos
York Knights coach Mark Applegarth doesn’t expect his side to catch Leeds Rhinos napping on Friday.
Promoted York will go into the clubs’ first meeting since 1995 on a high after last Thursday’s stunning 19-18 defeat of 2025 treble-winners Hull KR in Betfred Super League round one. The North Yorkshire outfit were among the pre-season favourites for the wooden spoon, making that result one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 30-year history, but Applegarth admitted: “We haven’t got that element of surprise any more.”
Leeds are looking to bounce back from a 26-14 loss at Leigh Leopards and the Knights’ ex-Wakefield Trinity boss warned: “Leeds are a very well-coached team. They definitely won’t be taking their foot off the gas.
“I thought they were unfortunate in a number of areas against Leigh and they will want to right that in round two. Leeds are traditionally a big-hitter in the league, we know they’ve got a lot of depth to their squad and a fantastic youth system that produces a number of talented players.
“They’ve got the reigning Man of Steel, an ex-Man of Steel and some cracking signings. We know we need to be at our best again, but it’s the sort of challenge we relish. We are looking forward to going to what is a fantastic stadium to play at, with a cracking atmosphere and putting our best foot forward again. All being well, it will be a humdinger of a game.”
Knights won the 1895 Cup and finished top of the Betfred Championship table in 2025, but lost to Toulouse Olympique in the Grand Final. That was the only time they’ve been beaten in their last 23 games and Applegarth insisted they won’t be daunted by this week’s big stage.
He said: “I’ll be saying to our lads ‘go out and embrace it, enjoy it’. I think that’s why you play sport, to play in front of passionate crowds like that. I am really looking forward to going there, backing up what was a good win against Hull KR and seeing if we can put it into practice again.”
York’s challenge now is to put the round one win behind them and get up again for another massive test against a side expected to challenge for honours this season. Applegarth added: “As a coach you are always conscious after a high like that that people think it’s just going to happen.
“It’s a case of stressing ‘we’ve done that well, let’s keep building on that, but also look at these areas we need to fix up’. It is a new week, new challenge and we want to see if we can back up a performance like last Thursday’s. We’re very happy with how we’ve gone against Barrow in the Challenge Cup and against Hull KR, but we are very aware Leeds are going to present a different challenge. We definitely won’t be thinking it’s just going to happen for us, we know we are going to have to go above and beyond again to get what we want.”