Knights chief welcomes Hullabaloo one-two (From York Press)

Knights chief welcomes Hullabaloo one-two

12:00pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Knights RL By Peter Martini, peter.martini@thepress.co.uk

INJURY-HIT York City Knights have bolstered their squad on the eve of the new season with the dual-registration recruitment of two potential stars of the future from Hull – though neither are set for immediate debuts on Sunday.

Strapping back-rowers Chris Green, 22, who shone in the recent pre-season friendly against the Knights, and Grantham-born rugby union convert Laurence Pearce, 21, who can also play at centre, have both signed forms at Huntington Stadium for 2012.

However, neither are being considered for Sunday’s Northern Rail Cup opener at home to Swinton – when the Knights could go into their first game of the season shorn of half a dozen front-line players. And it remains to be seen how often they will be made available for York over the course of the year.

Under dual-reg forms, the parent club get first dabs on whether to pick them on any given weekend, and both are in Hull’s first-team picture, with Leeds-born Green likely to be named in the provisional party for their Super League clash at Catalans Dragons on Saturday.

Knights player-boss Chris Thorman was delighted both were now on the books after weeks of speculation. He does not know either player from his time at the KC, but said both were highly-rated by Hull.

Pearce, a Great Britain student international, was set to train with the Knights for the first time tomorrow night, while both he and Green, who was prolific in a short dual-reg spell at Doncaster last year and also scored in a recent friendly against Hull KR, will hopefully come into contention for debuts against the Dons next week.

Said the player-coach: “Laurence is from a rugby union background. He’s 6ft 4in tall and nearly 19 stone, and that’s after trimming down a bit. I’ve watched some stuff on video and it’s fair to say he can carry a ball. He’s some athlete. If we can get the best out of him, we’ve got some player.

“Chris Green is also well-regarded. He played really well against us when they beat us. The fact he’s in their (first-team) squad for this weekend tells you a lot about how good he is.

“I’ve spoken to Shaun McRae (Hull director of rugby) and Lee Radford (Hull under-20s coach) about them. They’ve both been well-coached and they’re both going to bring quality.”

The need for more back-row strength became pressing due to a hand injury to James Houston in addition to fellow new recruit Tommy Haughey’s ongoing absence due to family commitments.

X-rays have shown Houston has not suffered a break but bad bruising means he is one of five players doubtful for the big kick-off.

Full-back James Haynes and props Adam Sullivan and Paul King were already being treated for injuries picked up in pre-season, while Jordan Tansey has joined that list due to illness. All are being monitored.

Thorman said of the back-row situation: “We just felt it necessary to strengthen that area a bit.”