YORK City Knights have taken York Acorn ARLC's player of the year on trial and he is set to feature in pre-season - possibly as soon as this Sunday's opening friendly at Featherstone Rovers.
Loose-forward Joe Porter - Acorn's man of the match no fewer than seven times in 19 appearances last year in the National Conference League premier division, amateur rugby league's elite tier - was to have his first run at Nestle Rowntree Park last night, when the Knights were staging an opposed training session against League One rivals Oxford.
The 23-year-old has been on Knights boss James Ford's radar for some time and he again caught the eye in the York East v York West charity match at Christmas.
"I came up to watch the 'Yorigin' charity match and I was really impressed with the game - it was played in the right spirit but with good intensity and good players on show," said Ford.
"Joe Porter in particular stood out, like he has done a lot for Acorn for some time.
"We've asked him to come on trial and we'll see him play in pre-season."
Porter has played 96 times for the Blue and Golds in the top two divisions of the National Conference since that league went to a summer season in 2012. He has scored 37 tries and been named man of the match 21 times.
He now gets a shot at League One semi-pro level, although his terms will not preclude him playing again for Acorn.
Blue and Golds boss Leigh Paul-Rientoul backed Porter's trial switch - even if he obviously did not want to lose him from his own squad.
"After the East v West game I got a phone call off James Ford - he's been impressed by some of our players and wants to have a look at Joe in pre-season and in some friendlies to see if he's got what it takes for semi-pro rugby.
"It's not great to lose your best players but we play this game for players to have the chance to go and do that.
"If they make it, great, but our door is always open for them to come back."
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