11:49am Saturday 23rd January 2010
By Peter Martini
BOSS James Ratcliffe reckons York City Knights will head into the Northern Rail Cup on the front foot – and with the ultimate goal of promotion in their sights.
The Knights were training together again today, during which they were due to sit down and discuss the squad’s aims for the 2010 season, which kicks off a week tomorrow with the cup group opener away to Rochdale.
And Ratcliffe, after seeing his side complete a hat-trick of pre-season victories on Thursday, reckoned they were well set for the long campaign ahead in both the cup and Championship One, albeit with plenty of improvement still in them.
“We’ll be setting our targets for the season (today) – and promotion has got to be up there,” Ratcliffe told The Press.
“We know it will be a really tough division. Blackpool look stronger, Hunslet look strong and Swinton have improved a lot.
“There are lots of good teams who will be challenging. I think the league will be even more competitive than last year.
“But while there is still work to do, all in all we’re happy with where we’re at.”
The Knights finished third last season and just missed out on a grand final berth in the play-offs. This year’s squad is much-changed, though, not least with the big exodus, along with former player-coach Paul March, to arch-rivals Hunslet.
Asked what the difference was between now and 12 months ago, Ratcliffe said: “We did all right in pre-season last year as well. It’s a different group of people now.
“The work ethic is good, though, and I’m really looking forward to the Northern Rail Cup.”
This year’s new-look outfit began with a Christmas friendly defeat to the York Select XIII but have since seen off sides from Hull KR, Castleford and Hunslet, although none of those were first-team line-ups.
“They were still good sides,” said Ratcliffe when asked if his squad had been tested. “Hull KR were Super League youngsters and Hunslet I thought were still quite a strong side – there’ll be five or six players who’ll be pushing for their first team.
“But it was not about other teams – it was about us. We finished with three wins from three which gives us some confidence going into the Northern Rail Cup.”
The last of those friendlies was the 50-12 defeat of the Hawks.
“I thought we improved again on Thursday night, following on from last Friday and Sunday,” added Ratcliffe. “We also asked for no more tries to be conceded at half-time, and they did that, which showed the right attitude.
“I think everybody has enjoyed the hit-outs. The friendlies are there to serve a purpose – to get game-time and see what we need to work on in training.
“We’ve got work to do on our defence and we’ve got to get our timing right in attack.
“We need to be a bit more decisive at the business end of the park, but that comes with game-time.
“Importantly, a lot of players have put their hand up for next week and there are going to be tough decisions when picking the side.
“More than 17 players have put their hand up, which bodes well for the future.”
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