Law was made to work hard for a spot back into Applegarth’s side, having not been included in a Knights squad for almost two months prior to his involvement in Sunday’s 30-8 victory over Featherstone Rovers at the LNER Community Stadium.
Clark has had a different path to his return to the squad, having suffered a pectoral tear, as well as having some time away to support his family and newborn child.
Both players played their parts in the win over Featherstone on Sunday, with Applegarth believing that the game time will benefit both players in the long run.
“[They both did] good, I think Joe will be a hell of a lot better for that,” Applegarth admitted.
“Obviously he brings some genuine strike down the left side, he looks dangerous when he’s got the ball and I think that we probably tried to push one or two many passes at the start.
“That’s just the youth in them wanting to play, but he’ll be a hell of a lot better after a prolonged period of the team.
“I’m really pleased to get him back, I think that it was his first game in seven or eight weeks.
“Mitch, he’s been training the house down and has obviously just had a baby girl, so it’s probably come at a nice time for him where he has gotten over the four week period where you have a newborn and are just adjusting to life.
“I’m really pleased we’ve got him back, it’s a point of difference when he’s coming off of the bench.”
Connor Fitzsimmons was also brought back into the side, and marked his return to the squad with a well-taken late try in the contest.
Applegarth was pleased to see Fitzsimmons back and making an impact, admitting that he had to earn his spot in the squad in a ‘tough’ manner after making improvements which the York Head Coach had requested.
Applegarth explained: “He’s had to do it tough, similar to a few others, where that prop forward position has got quite a few players vying for it.
“I challenged Fitzy in a couple of areas and he’s gone about his business great, he’s getting his rewards out on the field.
“I thought that he was great.”
One talking point from the contest came when Featherstone registered the second of their two tries, with Connor Wynne finishing on the left-wing despite pressure from the York defence.
The aftermath of that try proved to be feisty, with play being stopped whilst the referee settled the heated embroilment down.
Wynne was an unfortunate casualty for Featherstone, suffering a game-ending injury through a mix of the try, an attempted tackle and the aftermath, with Applegarth withdrawing from any judgement on the altercation for the time being.
He commented: “I haven’t seen it yet, I’ll get to see it when I get the birds-eye view of the game.
“They got a free interchange out of it so I’m not sure what has happened if I am honest, no one has told me what the supposed incident was.
“We’ll see what it is on video, I think that it’s Toa that they are trying to sight, but I don’t think that Toa has got any malice in him.
“Naturally you’re going to have a full-back doing everything they can trying to stop a winger from scoring in a corner, and unfortunately you sometimes get injured.
“I’ll say that my initial thoughts are that, but I’ll reserve judgement until I see it on video.”
