MICKY LEARMONTH has become the latest player to agree terms at York City Knights for 2016 - leaving boss James Ford a pretty content man as he surveys his forward pack.

The hard-hitting 20-year-old played ten times for the Knights this year, initially on loan from Huddersfield Giants, where he came through the academy, before signing on permanently in the summer.

He now becomes the sixth prop to pen deals for next year and head coach Ford reckons that, with the signings already made, the competition for places for the middle unit in his line-up already provides a strong platform from which to launch a renewed promotion push in Kingstone Press League One.

"In my opinion Micky's already a good player and someone who brings a wealth of physicality to what he does," said Ford when asked if fans can expect the young prop to have a bigger impact in the engine room next year.

"Twenty is young for a middle player and I expect him to improve this year and for years to come. He already brings a pretty unique amount of confrontation to his performance, and if he applies himself in training he'll grow bigger and stronger and this will make him a more confident player. I'm sure he will get better and better."

The six props signed on for 2016 comprise four from last year - Jack Aldous, player/assistant-coach Mark Applegarth, Brad Nicholson and Learmonth - plus big Brett Waller and Russ Spiers, who have been brought in from Doncaster.

Ryan Mallinder and Mike Emmett, another signing from Doncaster, can also fill the prop or loose-forward berths - also known as the middle unit, aside from hooker, in modern rugby league parlance.

Said Ford: "You would generally go with five of these players (in the 17), and who wins the shirts will depend on who's performing the best on match-days and during the week and who contributes to the club the most, which includes how they conduct themselves off the field."

The average age in the pack also increases somewhat given the new arrivals, with Waller, 28, Spiers, 24, and Emmett, 28, effectively replacing Colton Roche, 22, loanee Jack Blagbrough, 21, and Jack Pickles, 23, the latter having left midway through the last campaign.

Nicholson, 20, and Learmonth provide the youth, but Aldous is now 24 with four full seasons behind him and Applegarth remains the old head in the middle, becoming 31 by the turn of the year.

Ford said: "At times this year we had Brad Nicholson, (hooker) Kriss Brining and Micky Learmonth in the middle all at the same time. They're 19, 20, 21 and that is a young middle yet how they went about their business was very good.

"I've brought in a couple more experienced middle players and as a group I expect us to be even better around that area this year."

Ford has noted, too, investment and squad strengthening at other League One clubs, but he does not seem phased by the level of competition he can expect when the new season begins.

"It's good for rugby league," he said. "The standard of League One improved dramatically this year. Some of the stuff on display was excellent, and the standards are going to improve even further.

"It almost makes me wish I was still playing because it will be a fantastic competition to compete in."

Knights 2016 squad:

Full-backs: James Haynes, Ben Dent, Jordan Grayston, Brett Turner.

Wingers: Nev Morrison, Austin Buchanan, Adam Dent.

Centres: James Morland, Brad Hey.

Half-backs: Jonny Presley, Pat Smith, Richard Wilkinson.

Hookers: Mike Emmett, Kriss Brining, Harry Carter.

Props: Mark Applegarth, Jack Aldous, Brad Nicholson, Brett Waller, Russ Spiers, Micky Learmonth.

Back-rowers: Ed Smith, Josh Tonks, Ryan Mallinder.

* THE Knights' Kingstone Press League One fixtures for 2016, with its new-look format, will be released on Sunday evening. See thepress.co.uk for the full list and reaction.