MARK APPLEGARTH says York City Knights cannot wait to kick off their campaign – especially after the official launch of the Kingstone Press Championship and League One seasons ramped up the excitement.

A bumper turnout at the media day heard Rugby Football League chief operating officer Ralph Rimmer predict the 2015 season to be the “most intense and most exciting” of modern times, with the league restructure bringing back promotion and relegation between Super League and the Championship.

The latter gets under way this weekend, but the Knights’ League One season does not begin until a March 1 League Cup tie at London Skolars, and Applegarth wished they could get cracking without further delay – despite preparations being hampered by the community stadium saga.

“It’s a longer pre-season than we’re used to,” said the prop, who returns to the Knights as player/assistant-coach to new boss James Ford.

“We’re looking forward to getting back into it – we can’t wait.

“The wait isn’t ‘frustrating’ as such as training has been enjoyable – hard but enjoyable. But everyone is getting ready for the season.”

Applegarth also played down the significance of the two friendly results – 62-0 and 62-6 defeats by Hull and Featherstone respectively – and says York have a squad that can win promotion.

“The friendlies were a certain block in our training schedule,” he said.

“Hull put arguably their strongest 17 out and for the first 25 minutes of each half we competed. They blew us away a bit after that, but it’s what you’d expect with the strength of the opposition – you’d be worried if a full-strength full-time Super League side weren’t beating a League One team by 40 or 50.

“Featherstone played well and we could have played a bit better. A few players maybe let themselves down on that day, myself included, but there were still positives to take from it.

“Featherstone want to get into Super League and we exposed a lot of young players to what it takes to play at that level, which will hopefully be a good experience for them.

“It’s pre-season so it’s not about results. People got through without injuries and we can work on different processes.

“We definitely can compete (for promotion).

“With all the drama off the field, it’s worked in our favour in one way as it’s brought real togetherness in the camp.

“We’ve got some really good quality youngsters and can mix that in with experience.

“If we keep everyone fit and ready, we’ve got a good, strong League One team that’s more than capable of winning this league.”

A knock-on effect of the stadium issues is the fact the Knights have been without a training base, instead flitting between Manor School, York St John University’s facility and Castleford Tigers’ gym, and only recently getting onto a full-size pitch at York RUFC.

Applegarth said: “We don’t get involved in that (stadium) side of things but hopefully it will be sorted.

“Castleford have let us use Wheldon Road on Thursday nights and their gym is state of the art.

“We’re still at Haxby Road (York St John University) on Saturday mornings, so it’s all going okay.

“We have to say a big thank you to Manor School for helping us out, and we have to give a big mention to York RUFC for letting us use their facilities.

“We’re training on a full-size pitch now which has been a massive help, with structures coming into place thanks to that.”