Upon the arrival of Applegarth, former Head Coach Andrew Henderson transitioned into a Head of Rugby Operations & Development, with the club also announcing that they had plans to build a York RLFC academy by 2026.
The decision came after conversations between Chairman Clint Goodchild, General Manager Neil Gulliver and Henderson himself, with the decision being made that the latter would move into a new role, which prompted the decision to appoint Applegarth as Head Coach.
Those plans for the York RLFC academy for 2026 are now progressing, with Applegarth providing an update just shy of one year on from the announcement.
“I know that Hendo has been going about his business with the Junior Squires programme, which is the foundation of a scholarship,” Applegarth told the Press.
“The next stage for the club outside of the first-team, and I know there’s a lot of talk and external noise about what the league structure will look like over the next few years, once all that is ironed out, it’s about making sure that there is a York first-team, a genuine reserve team or feeder team, and a genuine academy or grassroots programme that filters in.
“I know that there are people within the club that are currently drawing that up.
“I try not to get too involved in it, I’ve been in those roles and it’s important that you give the people that are employed to set those programmes up the time to get them set-up, before you’re putting too much heat on them.
“My job as a first-team coach is to make sure that the first-team are performing, and then once we’ve go that reserve team established, making sure that all of our first-team players are catered for.
“Our academy set-up is to make sure that there is a clear pathway through for talented York people to get the chance in our first-team.”
York RLFC recently hosted a double-header at the LNER Community Stadium that saw York Valkyrie’s first-team and under-19’s team both play back-to-back, which drew an impressive crowd in of supporters.
Applegarth hopes that when the academy is developed, they can host a full day of academy rugby, Valkyrie and the Knights to produce an event that draws further attention to rugby league in York.
It would tie in nicely to the events of this Sunday, with both the Valkyrie and the Knights featuring in a double-header at the LNER Community Stadium.
The Knights Head Coach added: “I think the more that we can make it a family day out for everyone and cater to everyone else’s needs, it’s perfect.
“Hopefully when our academy gets set up, we can have it right from men’s and women’s academies teams starting in the morning, through to the senior teams.
“It’s great, it’s good to see York get a hard-fought win against Leeds because I know that they have had a couple of tough weeks with the semi and the Wigan game after that.
“It’ll be a good match-up, the Valks versus the Saints, and I know that Lindsay and her team will want to right the wrong from the semi-final.
“I normally can watch the first-half without it affecting what we do and then I hide away in the sheds to get ready for our game. I’ll be cheering on the Valks for sure.”
Speaking further on the prospects of a day of rugby that having an academy could bring, Applegarth used his own experiences as an example of how the day could shape up.
He explained: “It’s great, I know that when I played out in Australia on a Sunday, games might start at 9am in the morning with an under-12’s comp, and then they might accumulate at 5 o’clock at night when the first-team play.
“Modern sport is all about occasions and making it an event, gone are the days in rugby league where people want to come and just watch two halves of rugby.
“I think that people want to come and make an event out of things.
“York tends to be a pretty forward-thinking club, and I’d like to see them as a trendsetter in getting that sort of model established moving forward.”
