AS one challenge comes to an end, so another one begins. And both could be defining periods of York City Knights' season, according to boss Gary Thornton.

The Knights go to Oxford tomorrow - or rather, Henley-on-Thames - for the last of four back-to-back long away trips to the South West and South East. And if they come away with a fourth victory from four, the maximum 12 points from 1,600 miles in 22 days, it will be some achievement.

But the fixture list won't then allow them a rest, as next up after Oxford come title challengers Oldham and then another long 380-mile round trip to Gloucestershire All Golds. These three opponents are the only sides to have beaten the Knights this year.

"That's a good little stat, that," laughed Thornton when discussing the challenges past and future.

"If we can achieve four out of four in this little run it will give us a huge boost going into the back end of the season, knowing we have got over that tough hurdle, knowing we can handle anything.

"We can still be top of the league and we can carry on learning and growing.

"These next three games, followed by Gateshead and (arch-rivals) Hunslet Hawks, is another tough period. They're teams pushing us in the play-offs.

"It could be a real defining period for us."

These long-distance journeys are more regular fare in the professional football world when compared to northern-based rugby, but even those teams very rarely get four such taxing treks on the bounce.

And don't forget these rugby league guys are part-time players, where remuneration doesn't really cover 17-hour days. Plus the bumps and bruises they get in this game take longer to recover from than those in the round ball arena, and being stuck getting stiff on a bus for four hours doesn't help much.

Of course, Championship One, with so many expansion clubs, isn't as good a standard as the Championship, but Thornton was certain the challenge his men have faced remained a demanding one. Furthermore, forthcoming opponents like Oldham and Hunslet are long-standing traditional clubs with Championship pedigree. Gateshead are looking like splashing the cash, too, after their takeover by Newcastle Falcons

Was Thornton fazed, or tired by the testing times? Not one bit.

"It's good, it's exciting to have challenges," he said. "You want challenges. You like being challenged, having good games of rugby league. It's much better to have a competitive league and things that test you rather than easy walkovers."

How about the pressure of being top of the table with promotion play-offs ahead?

"You prefer to have the pressure of being top than being bottom."


JUST to confirm, tomorrow's match against Oxford will be played at Henley Hawks RFC's ground in Henley-on-Thames.

Yes, the same Henley-on-Thames that's famed for its rowing regatta, London socialites scene and, for want of a better word, toffs. It's possibly as far away from your traditional rugby league heartland as you can get, figuratively speaking.

Of course it's a good thing for the 13-a-side code in the modern world to infiltrate such areas - and indeed a dream for the game's expansionists - but this column has previously mentioned the need for all involved to improve marketing and to sell the game better to newbies, and one fears further proof of that need will come in the attendance figure tomorrow.

(NB "Toffs" was not meant derogatorily, by the way. One thing rugby league needs more of is toffs, to bring in the kind of money, PR and networks that the other code has always benefited from, and to break down old-fashioned social barriers which to this day continue to hinder the faster game's growth.)


IT was interesting to note boss Gary Thornton's comments over the past week regarding training.

He revealed after last week's 30-20 win at London Skolars, when his team eased off after going 30-0 up, that the players had had less punishing training sessions in the build-up to the match.

This week, he says, they have appeared "reinvigorated" as they gear up to this next testing period. Hopefully that will show on the pitch.

"We're in the middle of four long away games," he told the media after the Skolars match. "It's a lot of travelling and long days so we've tried to ease up a bit in training so as not to push them too much. That possibly showed a bit (against London) as we looked a bit disorganised.

"We have to be conscious of the bigger picture.

"We want to finish top as that gives you an easy run in the play-offs, but there are no easy games in this division. Teams will come at you and when you're top they want to knock you off."

As for this week, he said: "We looked more energised at training. We trained really well. This is the last of the four. We set a target of winning four out of four and we don't want to fall short."


BENN HARDCASTLE'S loan move to Gateshead Thunder has been confirmed - but he will not be able to play in their fixture against the Knights.

The 24-year-old half-back has been kept out of York's first team by the form of current incumbents Ben Reynolds and Pat Smith, and goes back to his former club, initially in a five-week agreement. Gateshead visit Huntington Stadium in a month's time but he will not be able to play that day, nor will he be allowed to feature for the Tynesiders in the play-offs should they progress.

Said Knights boss Gary Thornton: "There's no way I'll let anyone go out on loan in the play-offs.

"This (current loan deal) benefits him as it gets him playing rugby league, not kicking his heels. He will get his match fitness and sharpness and if we need him he'll be ready, not having to catch up."


MUCH has been said about the pros and cons of partnerships between Championships and Super League clubs but one man currently benefitting from the Knights' arrangement with Castleford is Colton Roche.

The forward, who joined York from Sheffield in May, has been training a few days a week with the Tigers after Cas boss Daryl Powell agreed to have a look at the 21-year-old with a view to a potential full-time deal for next year.

Either way, it means York gain, too, from his additional coaching. This week the Tigers' medical staff have also looked after him after his knee injury against London Skolars last Sunday, making sure he was fit to play against Oxford tomorrow.


RETURNING to rugby league matters outside the heartlands, Super League stragglers London Broncos are seemingly getting ready for life in the Championship, having recruited Andrew Henderson as assistant-coach for 2015.

Scotland international Henderson, the Sheffield Eagles hooker and head of youth development, who is also a television pundit, will become number two to Joey Grima at the end of this season.

The 35-year-old - one of three rugby league-playing brothers of Scottish parents who were born in England but brought up in Australia - played for Salford, Castleford, Gateshead, Barrow, Balmain Tigers before joining Sheffield.

He has since helped Eagles to become the first club to achieve back-to-back Championship grand final successes in 2012 and 2013 - nous which the Broncos will be calling on as they attempt to get to grips with domestic rugby league's second tier.

Mark Aston, the Eagles' chief executive, said: "Hendo has been a massive part of Sheffield Eagles for the last four years and we will be sorry to see him go."

With the Broncos pretty much down, the Knights will have a trip to the capital next season no matter what.