York's Liam Harris looks ahead to the 2025 Betfred Championship season...
York Knights will be looking to kickstart their season against Toulouse this weekend, after a disappointing display in Round 1.
Mark Applegarth’s men suffered a heavy defeat on the opening weekend of the new Betfred Championship campaign, losing 50-4 to a newly promoted Oldham at Boundary Park.
But despite Oldham’s statement performance, York will remain optimistic about getting their season up and running on home soil, as they welcome Championship heavyweights Toulouse to the LNER Community Stadium on Sunday – a side who are also searching for their first win.
And Knights playmaker Liam Harris knows how important a strong start is for his side, with Championship set to be another unpredictable year:
“It’s massive we get a strong start. The past couple of seasons we haven’t been great at the start so we need to respond this weekend," he said.
“I think the competitive nature of the Championship is great – it could be anyone’s game on the day. Everyone looks beatable, so it should be a really exciting season.
“Hopefully there’s a few upsets throughout the year, but we’ll just focus on ourselves and see where we can get up to.”
As York’s first full season under Applegarth, they’ll be looking to build on their fourth-placed finish in 2024 and hopefully go one step further than the Play-Off semi-finals stage.
Applegarth took the reins in North Yorkshire midway through last year, as Harris reflected on his new head coach’s positive influence at the back end of the previous campaign, and looks forward to the possibilities that may come with a full season in charge:
“Mash (Mark Applegarth) came in last year and really rejuvenated the squad, and the players really enjoyed themselves playing under him - that really showed on the field.
“We haven’t had a preseason under Mash, but now we have, we need to come out firing like every other team.” Harris said.
“It’s a really good environment here at York. We enjoy coming to work every day and hopefully we can go on to provide on the field."
And the Championship won’t be the only competition York are focused on this season, with the prospect of an AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final under the iconic Wembley arch enough to get any Knights fan dreaming.
They came tantalisingly close to a trip to Wembley last season, losing out to Sheffield Eagles in the semi-final, and Harris is looking forward to the whole of the 2025 calendar, and what it could bring for York:
“The 1895 Cup is a really exciting opportunity for any team and we’ll aim to win every game we can.
“Ultimately, we just want to be better than last season - I remember losing the semi-final of the 1895 Cup, so I’d like to go one better than that.
"We want to be up there in the top four again, too."
From a personal perspective, the Knights scrum-half remains focused on keeping himself fit, and doing his best to help the side to what he hopes will be a successful Championship season:
“The ultimate goal is just to get better than last year, fingers crossed I can stay fit and healthy, and if I can lead the team to a final and get us one step further than last year, then that’s a huge success for me,” Harris said.
York’s Round 1 opponents, Toulouse lost out in a thriller at home to Widnes Vikings in Round 1, which means a blistering battle is expected on Sunday.
The two points will be important for both sides in these early stages, with Harris and the Knights aware that a win is imperative if they want to build some positive momentum, and be battling for the top places come the end of the campaign...
York Knights will host Toulouse Olympique on Sunday 23 February (K.O. 3pm).
The full fixture list for the new Betfred Championship season can be found here.
