“ONE in, all in.” That was the motto proclaimed by player-boss Chris Thorman as he refused to apportion blame to any individual after his York City Knights side got off to a sorry start in their Co-operative Championship campaign.

The Knights yesterday lost 30-10 to Dewsbury Rams, the one side they did the double over last season, after an inconsistent display across the park.

Thorman’s fellow half-back, Jordan Tansey, again came in for specific criticism from some fans disheartened by the former Super League star’s contribution so far this term, but the player-coach refused to single out any individuals.

“We can all improve collectively. We can all fix things up,” he said. “Defensively we need to work better as a team. If someone misses a one-on-one tackle, we need to solve it together. We need to stand up together and solve it together. One in, all in.”

As for the half-back partnership, assistant-coach Mick Ramsden revealed the coaching staff had tweaked the way the pair played together, trying to give Tansey more of a running game, which he had proved so dangerous at in Super League when in a full-back role.

Thorman also pointed out this was only their third game together, the player-coach having missed two of the four Northern Rail Cup matches before yesterday’s league opener.

“Time will tell. If it needs changing, I will change it,” he added.

Thorman, though, did bemoan missed one-on-one tackles and admitted the side needed a bigger cutting edge when in possession.

“It was disappointing,” he said of the performance. “We didn’t start the game particularly well and we seemed to be on the back foot immediately.

“But we got back in the game and we had the wind behind us in the second half and we knew, if we could stay in the arm wrestle as long as possible in the first half and keep the deficit down to a minimum, we would still be in with a shout.

“We were fairly positive at half-time and we scored to make it 12-4, and going from there we were in a decent situation.

“But unfortunately we lost too many one-on-one contacts, which had been the story of the first half. We fell off too many tackles. That’s something we need to improve.

“We also need to ask a few more questions offensively too. But it’s game one and I’m not going to be negative. It was disappointing but a week is a long time in rugby league.”