Ringing the changes in quest for success

10:58am Saturday 26th July 2008

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THERE have been notable changes at York City Knights recently – and not just on the field.

A trio of new players have joined the Knights’ crusade in the past few weeks, with all three making good early impressions as the team have bounced back from three consecutive defeats by scoring 118 points in two games.

Top try-scorer Lee Mapals is also on his way out (assuming he can find a club).

But the changes don’t stop there, as a reshuffle behind the scenes has seen a restructure take place.

What the club could do with now is a few more board members to bring in energy, time and ideas, even if they cannot afford cash.

Ian Wilson, who has played such a major part in the success of the club’s community development schemes, is a key figure in it all, having been appointed general manager, the first since the departure of Chris Clinton at the end of 2006. Readers of The Press will have noticed his change of title when he was quoted in the sports pages this week.

As his new title suggests, Wilson will now be generally responsible for all areas of the club, overseeing the smooth running in the various departments, from the commercial sector to the recruitment of players. He will continue to be involved in the community side of things, but that department will pass over into the hands of able deputy Adam Prentis. Pete Dudley will continue as commercial chief on a voluntary basis but he may soon switch to the Knights Foundation, with the club considering employing a commercial manager, depending on funding guidelines from the Rugby Football League.

Wilson explained the changes, which come in the wake of chairman Roger Dixon’s decision to move aside.

“With Roger stepping down, we had a sit down to discuss how we could move the club forward,” he said.

“No one has come forward to take over as chairman and so the club will be run more like a management board. I will oversee things and make sure it’s running like it should be.

“We knew Roger was going and we had to get something in place for next year and beyond. It’s not a great deal of change in some respects. Roger has got his own business and other commitments and therefore wasn’t able to be in the office as much as he would have liked. We are still hoping he might like to stay with the club in some capacity, if not chairman.”

John Guildford, the majority shareholder, who has also considered stepping aside, will still be involved, but The Press understands he will not necessarily be on the management board, which will be manned by Steve Wragg, on the financial side of things, Dudley, Wilson and, possibly, any new commercial chief.

Wilson added: “We’re also looking for directors or anyone else who wants to come on board and bring expertise, not just money.”

ANYONE who reads anything into statistics might be interested to note the Knights’ win-lose ratio when they have and haven’t got the March twins in the line-up.

In the nine matches in which both have played (not including the Barrow away match in which Paul March limped off in the second minute), the Knights have won five and lost four. In the 15 matches in which one or the other has not played (including the aforementioned Barrow game), the Knights have won only two, with three draws and ten losses.

DON’T forget to vote for your Knights Player of the Month for July via our website at thepress.co.uk, following the links to Knights and Player of the Month.

Sully’s off and running in rankings

FORMER Press Player of the Year Adam Sullivan has finally got onto the 2008 leaderboard – in a week in which he celebrated signing on for 2009.

Remarkably, the 25-year-old prop, who lifted the annual gong in the Knights’ 2005 National League Two title-winning season, had not picked up a single point since returning to Huntington Stadium from French side Lyon in May.

That has changed at last, following his man-of-the-match display (3pts) in the hoodoo- battering win at Workington last week. It was a performance reminiscent of his 2005 vintage – more of which will be needed now Danny Ekis is ruled out for a month or so with his groin injury.

There were other big performances at Derwent Park, not least from full-back Danny Ratcliffe (2pts), who was a shock inclusion after it was revealed he had not suffered as bad a wrist injury as first thought. The 21-year-old still needed to be heavily strapped up but gave a wonderfully adept display, at times with a reading of the game that belied his age.

Several players were in the running for player-of-the-year points but the remainder went to two-try Steve Lewis (1pt), who seems to be shrugging off an indifferent period and is finding form out on the flanks.

Press/K Walker & Co Player of the Year standings: Mapals 18, Buckley 16, Spicer 14, Ekis 14, P March 14, D March 11, Divorty 10, Applegarth 8, Oakes 7, Hughes 7, Ratcliffe 7, Lewis 7, Esders 6, Grimshaw 6, Hodgson 4, Sullivan 3, Rhodes 3, Grice 3, Greenwood 1.

ONE person who will not begrudge Sullivan his man-of-the-match award is surely prop partner Scott Woodcock.

Former BARLA international Woodcock had yet to cross the whitewash in this his first season in the professional game and, as many fans will know, the traditional punishment for going the entire campaign without scoring a try is a naked lap of the pitch in training.

Woodcock was facing that embarrassment until Sullivan showed he also possessed a generous side to his character.

There were five minutes left at Derwent Park and the Knights were already sure of beating Workington when Sullivan surged through for a try his performance had merited.

However, rather than touch the ball down, he handed it on to Woodcock, who was up in support, to gleefully get off the mark.