Applegarth credits Goodchild’s recruitment drive for the York Knights

The latest York Knights recruit will link up with Applegarth’s side from next season, having impressed in the Wakefield Trinity forward line in the Betfred Super League.

It sees Applegarth and Griffin link up for a third time, after the pair briefly played together whilst at Wakefield in 2008, before the current Knights Head Coach signed the forward once he took the managerial reigns at Trinity in 2023.

Applegarth now believes that Griffin will prove to be a ‘catalyst’ to other members of his York playing squad to help them improve in their own game, adding valuable Super League experience to the Knights fold.

“Josh, when I was coaching at Wakefield, I was delighted to get Josh over the line there,” Applegarth said on his latest addition.

“He’s a player that I actually played with just as I was coming to the end of my career and he was coming to the start [of his career].

“He’s an ultimate professional, he lives his life exactly as you’d want a professional athlete to live it and he trains to a high standard every single week.

“More importantly, he trains to a high standard every single week.

“He’s still doing the job in the Super League in the games that I’ve watched of Wakefield, Wakefield have been doing excellent and he’s been a massive part of it.

“I’m delighted that we’ve got him over the line and I think he will be a good catalyst for other members of the group to kick on as well.

“I’m over the moon that we’ve got him.”

Whilst Griffin has only penned an initial one-year contract with the Knights, Applegarth already has eyes on the long-term future of the 35-year-old.

Griffin has already acquired a qualification in Sports and Science Exercise Health at the Bishop Burton College in Beverley, and has gained experience as a Strength and Conditioning [S&C] coach at Midland Hurricanes.

Applegarth explained: “We’ve signed Josh on a playing deal initially, but I won’t lie, there has been conversations for further down the line there.

“He’s been doing a great job for Midland Hurricanes this year, doing their S&C, he’s done all of his degree whilst he’s been playing.

“He’s a smart lad is Josh and he takes his S&C seriously, he’s got a career in S&C if that’s what he wants to do after he finishes playing.

“Currently, for another 12 months at least, in my opinion he’ll still be one of the best back-rowers about.”

Whilst Applegarth has had the previous experience of playing and coaching with Griffin, it was York RLFC chairman Clint Goodchild that identified the forward as a potential 2026 signing for the Knights.

Goodchild has also recently brought in Danny Richardson on a loan deal until the end of the season from Hull KR, Harry Fraser and Paul Vaughan for 2026, with Applegarth lauding the Chairman for his recruitment expertise that has benefitted York this season.

He credited: “Clint takes care of the recruitment and he’s great. Obviously I’m fully aware of what conversations are out there, but I can focus on the main thing, which is obviously coaching.

“I can’t thank him enough for that and he’s been doing a cracking job with that – not only with some of the names that we’ve got over the line for next year, if you look at some of the signings this year, one of the best bits of business for me was Kieran Buchanan.

“I know a lot of Knights fans might not have known too much about him beforehand, but for me I think he’s been one of the best performers throughout the year.

“He does a lot of unselfish work that can easily go unnoticed in a game, but he’s an absolutely unbelievable player.

“He’s been great for us this year, and Clint’s got to take a lot of credit for that because he’s done a lot of his homework on him and found that centre that we were looking for.

“He’s delivered.”

Richardson will be with the Knights until the end of the season, but is also working on recovering from an ankle injury that thankfully avoided any surgery.

Applegarth revealed the time frame on when Knights supporters can expect to see their loanee in action, saying: “Danny will be joining us after the week off from Toulouse, I think he’s just going through the final stages of his rehab with Hull KR.

“I’ve been chatting to Danny weekly about that, and he’ll be fit from the Doncaster or Batley game.

“That’ll pass whenever he’s fit.

“When we had a couple of doubts ourselves, Clint has moved quickly to get someone in.

“To get a player of Danny’s calibre in is a statement of intent from the club, and a blessing for me that we’ll have cover this year for halves if needed.”