JAMES FORD hailed the Brad Hey's mental strength following his try-scoring show upon his late recall to York City Knights' starting line-up.

Hey, playing at either centre or in the back row, has been in and out of the team recently but was named in the threequarters for Sunday's match against Toulouse after the on loan Junior Vaivai withdrew due to an injury in training.

Hey made one high-profile error when dropping a pass straight from a scrum in his own red zone but the team defended the following set, with the 24-year-old himself pouncing on a loose ball to retrieve possession.

He had earlier scored a cracking try and also came up with a try-saving intervention as he and Toulouse's Constantine Mika changed a kick in goal.

Said head coach Ford: "He's come up with a bit of a clanger but then he's had two or three really positive involvements.

"He showed a lot of mental strength, a lot of mental resilience, to come back from that (error) and I'm really chuffed with him.

"The conditions didn't favour anybody's skill. Johnathan Thurston (Australian legend) probably would have come up with a couple of errors in those conditions.

"I was really pleased with how he brushed it off and continued to perform."