York Knights have become the 11th Super League club to confirm their squad numbers, and with 15 new faces coming in, there are plenty of changes from 2025.
Mark Applegarth has been very busy on the recruitment front, as he looks to form a competitive playing group for the new campaign.
Blending a mix of experience and youth, the club have a good balance of established and up-and-coming players across the squad.
There are four players in the club’s 1-13 that are new recruits. Jordan Lipp and Sam Wood fill the centre spots, taking three and four respectively. Paul Vaughan takes 10, whilst Josh Griffin, who moved from Wakefield Trinity will don number 11.
There were plenty of questions of who would be the club’s first choice half-backs, and whilst the squad numbers don’t decide selections, it gives a good indication as to who Applegarth is opting to start for most of their games.
Sticking with the pairing from 2025, Ata Hingano and Liam Harris will continue to wear six and seven, with the boss rewarding their efforts from their table-topping Championship campaign.
Other halves options include Toa Mata’afa, a mid-season signing last year, but he will wear the number one, replacing Will Dagger who switches to 24. Danny Richardson was also brought in from Hull KR, but he will wear 19.
New recruits Denive Balmforth, Xavier Va’a and Justin Sangare have been given numbers 14-16 respectively, whilst Aussie trio John Sagaga, Nikau Williams and Ryan Jackson will don 22, 26 and 28.
In other changes to the starting 13, Ben Jones Bishop and Scott Galeano move up to two and five, whilst Jesse Dee takes the 12 shirt that came available after Connor Bailey’s move to Hull FC.
York Knights 2026 squad numbers: 1. Toa Mata’afa, 2. Ben Jones-Bishop, 3. Jordan Lipp, 4. Sam Wood, 5. Scott Galeano, 6. Ata Hingano, 7. Liam Harris, 8. Jack Martin, 9. Paul McShane, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Josh Griffin, 12. Jesse Dee, 13. Jordan Thompson, 14. Denive Balmforth, 15. Xavier Va’a, 16. Justin Sangare, 17. Kieran Hudson, 19. Danny Richardson, 20. Oliver Field, 21. Kieran Buchanan, 22. John Sagaga, 23. Jon Bennison, 24. Will Dagger, 25. Jack Smith, 26. Nikau Williams, 27. Matty Foster, 28. Ryan Jackson, 38. Will Roberts, 40. Taylor Pemberton, 41. Mitch Clark.
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