The York Knights boss’ call comes amid the returns of injured trio Ata Hingano, Brad Ward and Conor Fitzsimmons to last weekend’s preliminary squad, but that was purely to make up the numbers with just 17 fit players available for their trip to Barrow.
“Ultimately, it’s on the player, isn’t it?” said Applegarth. “It’s alright me saying ‘go out and do this’, but the player’s got to feel comfy enough to play.
“All I say to the players is ‘if you’re playing, I expect you to play how we know you can play’. If you are carrying a bump before a game, don’t say you’re fit unless you’re willing to play with that bump.
“We’ve got a real tough group here. Every single player will put their arm up. If you do do that, you’ve got to be smart.
“One thing I’m keen to stress is we try not to risk players, or we don’t risk players that we could cause a lot of damage to. It’s just mainly people who are carrying bumps and bruises that are going to be uncomfortable and probably not too pleasant a day or two after the game.
“But if someone’s got an obvious injury where you know it’s going to cause some significant damage, that’s a different story altogether.”
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Whilst the trio, alongside Jacques O’Neill, are likely to return to the frame before the end of the month, the Knights could have two more names to add to their injury list following their fine win in Cumbria.
Skipper Liam Harris – who bagged a hat-trick at Craven Park – was taken off as a precaution with an ankle injury, and outside back Joe Law made way for Jude Ferreira midway through the second half with an eye issue.
Should the swelling in Harris’ ankle not sufficiently reduce by Sunday, he may miss their 1895 Cup quarter-final against Widnes, as could Hingano as he recovers from a broken hand.
Applegarth though insists his regular half-back pairing would both play on through injury if they could, something that epitomises their desire.
“He took a bit of a bump as he scored one of his tries, someone landed on him awkwardly,” he said of Harris.
“It’s settled down a hell of a lot, we’ll give him until Friday, but he says he’s moving a lot better. I don’t think there’s any significant damage, it’s just whether the swelling goes down in time.
“The game had been won by that last 10 minutes, but trying to drag him off the field is not the easiest thing! But I’d rather have players like that than people begging to come off.
“It was more just being wise about it, he’d been playing for I think 50 minutes with it, so we were just trying to look after him a bit there.
“I thought it was a proper captain’s knock from him, not only with how he played, but dealing with the injury as well as managing the game how he did.
Harris picked up an ankle injury at Barrow after scoring a hat-trick. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography) “Ata, he’s getting there. He won’t be far off this week if I’m honest.
“It was a very small fracture in his hand so he’s back doing most things now. Last week was a bit too early for him, but we were carrying quite a few knocks, so we named him in the squad just in case.
“Listen, Ata would play tomorrow if you told him. He’s another one that you’ve just got to manage, he’d probably try and go out there in a wheelchair with a broken leg if he could and still feel he could get the Man of the Match. That’s the kind of desire you want in your team.”
There is good news for Law, who does not have any fractures to his face, but further investigation is still ongoing to determine the extent of any damage.
“He’s had a CT scan just to rule out any fractures, and there’s no fracture,” Applegarth told The Press.
“He’s got an appointment with another eye specialist tomorrow [Thursday] just to look at the muscular damage behind that eye. It’s still really painful when he’s looking anywhere but straight, so there’s obviously something there that needs investigating.
“But I’m glad at the same time that there seems to be no lasting damage in terms of a fracture or anything like that.”
If fellow forward Jacob Gannon does not return from a problem surrounding a removed cyst against Widnes, he is likely to also be back against the Dons.
“Conor, he’s probably another two weeks away yet. We were just struggling for middles at that time so we put him down just in case.
“Wardy, he’s getting his final checks done this week, so all being well, he should be back in contention for the Doncaster game.
“Jacob had a bit of a niggle around where the wound that’s getting looked after was, so he’s still not fully right.
“We’re hoping Sunday, but if not, definitely the week after as long as there’s no setbacks again.”
