Latest news with #YorkKnights
BBC News
3 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
York pip Featherstone in extra time to win 1895 Cup
1895 Cup final, Wembley StadiumFeatherstone (2) 4Goals: Reynolds 2York (4) 5Goals: Harris 2 Drop-goal: HarrisMatch ended 4-4 after 80 minutes York Knights lifted the 1895 Cup for the first time as they edged Championship rivals Featherstone Rovers in golden-point extra time at Harris slotted a 35-metre drop-goal in the fifth minute of added time to spark celebrations after a tryless 80 minutes had ended level at aiming to become the first side to win the 1895 Cup for a second time by following-up their win in 2021 against York, started well and hit the front with a 12th-minute penalty from scrum-half Ben as errors crept into Rovers' game, York took control of a physical first half, levelling through the boot of Harris before the scrum-half kicked a long-range second penalty as the hooter blew for half-time. Harris was stopped just short as York restarted well, but Featherstone responded, with Clay Webb denied by Toa Mata'afa's try-saving tackle before Reynolds' second penalty levelled the scores on the back-row Oli Field was brought down a few metres short of the line and Featherstone wasted a late drop-goal opportunity as nerves and fatigue sides missed drop-goal attempts in extra time through Harris and Ryan Hampshire, before the former found the target to clinch a tense Aekins, Olpherts, Hardcastle, Gale, Wynne, Reynolds, Hampshire, Springer, Jubb, Beckett, Day, Webb, Jones, Williams, Vuniyayawa, Mata'afa, Brown, Buchanan, Field, Galeano, Hingano, Harris, Martin, McShane, Ta'ai, Dee, Bailey, Cook, Santi, Gannon, Liam Rush.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Harris backs Knights to put on a show at Wembley
Winger Liam Harris said York Knights can show they are "a Super League side in the making" with victory in the 1895 Cup at Wembley Stadium on Saturday (17:45 BST).The North Yorkshire outfit will battle it out with fellow Championship side Featherstone Rovers for the second- and third-tier knockout trophy after the Challenge Cup final between Warrington Wolves and Hull while Harris expects that plenty of fans will not stay to watch the aftershow to the main event, he said they should if they want to see a top-flight side of the future."Outside looking in, people probably turn their nose up at this competition," Harris told BBC Radio York."It is played after the [main] game and all the fans have left and all that sort of stuff, but to us, looking at it internally, it is the only knockout competition we can win so to us it's everything."That is what is on offer and we'll go for it. If and when we get the job done on the weekend it is a fair step in a positive direction for the club, and that's very important to us as well."I believe York is a Super League club in the making and it's only a matter of time [before we become one]."York Knights have spent the last six and a half seasons in the second-tier Championship, finishing fourth, sixth and sixth in the past three currently sit in fourth place in the table, four places and four points ahead of Saturday's opponents Featherstone Rovers, who are eighth.
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Castleford Tigers player's high hopes for crowd-funded wheelchair
A wheelchair rugby player has said he has "all the confidence in the world" about winning this season's tournament after getting a custom-made chair thanks to crowd-funded donations and an anonymous Murphy, 32, who recently joined Castleford Tigers after previously playing for York Knights, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which causes his joints to dislocate very easily. Mr Murphy, from York, said he used to play in a chair that was too wide, meaning he regularly suffered bruises and dislocations to his hips while playing. But he said that since he started using his new chair, people had told him "how much faster I am, how nimble I am - it's changed my game completely". "It feels so comfortable and I'm not moving about like I was in my last chair. I'm strapped in properly," he said. Mr Murphy said he had needed to replace his previous wheelchair as it had been "very old and falling apart".He was able to have his new chair made after raising £2,500 of the £5,000 required, before then receiving a further £2,500 donation from a listener who had heard his story on BBC Radio York. Mr Murphy said: "Never in my life have I had someone be so generous."It just meant the world that he thought enough about what I could do to fund that money for me to get this new chair." Mr Murphy told BBC Radio York that playing rugby had given him a "reason to get up in the morning" after struggling since adolescence with his mental health."When I'm on the pitch it just makes me forget about the sad stuff," he said."You feel like a completely different human being."Of Castleford Tigers' Wheelchair RL Team's upcoming season, which is due to start on Saturday with a match against his old team York Knights, Mr Murphy said: "I have all the confidence in the world now I have this wheelchair." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Telegraph
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Georgie Dagger: ‘Your career isn't done when you become a mum – I'm Woman of Steel'
When Georgie Dagger was crowned rugby league's Woman of Steel last October, it topped what she calls the 'best year of my life'. During 2024, she made her England debut, helped York Valkyrie to the Women's Super League title and married her long-term partner Will Dagger, the York Knights player. But the significance of claiming the game's highest individual prize went deeper because Dagger, nee Hetherington, became the first mother to win Woman of Steel, having given birth to son Bobby in 2020. Inspiring @YorkValkyrie to #GrandFinal glory 🏆 2024 Woman of Steel, Georgie Hetherington 🙌 #SuperLeague — Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) October 9, 2024 Professional sportswomen returning to the highest level after giving birth is becoming more common but it is not without its challenges. Dagger, a full-back or hooker, says: 'Nobody in women's rugby league really talks about taking time out to have children and how difficult it is to get back playing. I believe it puts so many girls off having kids young because they think, 'Your career's done once you've become a mum'. 'More than anything, I wanted to prove to all the young players – and even girls who have yet to pick up a rugby ball – that you absolutely can do it. Yes, it takes hard work and sacrifice, but you should never feel you have to prioritise one over the other. The fact I'm a mum and a rugby player – and the Woman of Steel – makes me really proud.' Dagger hails from Castleford, a former coal-mining town in West Yorkshire where rugby league dominates. It was while playing for amateur club Castleford Panthers that she met her future husband. 'Bobby was the best surprise ever' 'Will played for the boys' team and me for the girls, so we always knew who each other were. But we went to different high schools,' says the 27-year-old. 'We then went to the same college and that's where things took a romantic turn. He came around to my house one day and never really left. It was all very natural.' Bobby, who was born in February 2020 via an emergency aesarean, was not planned. Dagger explains: 'I was out injured at the time with a broken arm and my reaction to the anaesthetic might have cancelled out the Pill. So, Bobby really was a surprise, but the best surprise ever. 'I thought, 'How am I ever going to get back playing rugby with a child?'. It was quite daunting but luckily it was during lockdown, so I used that period to get back fit in my own time. 'It's not been easy, though, and myself and some of the other mums at York have picked up long-term injuries. You wonder if it's because your body goes through so much of a change after giving birth. Getting back playing is a massive challenge.' Alongside her rugby, Dagger works as a teaching assistant at Bobby's school in Pontefract. Will plays his rugby part-time for York's men's team, having starred in Super League for Warrington Wolves and Hull Kingston Rovers. He also serves on York Valkyrie's back-room staff under head coach Lindsay Anfield, whom Georgie credits as a major influence on her career. 'It's fair to say Will and I had a few arguments in the early days of him coaching us,' she says. 'But now the dynamic is much better and all we do is talk about rugby! I'm so grateful to have such an understanding partner because he's a player himself. Will's support was pivotal in all my success last year and Lindsay's been brilliant for me over a long period.' 'Amazing to be involved' Dagger missed England's November international against Wales at Headingley, having made her international debut away in France last June, because it clashed with her wedding. But she is in the squad to face Australia as part of a quadruple-header in Las Vegas on March 1, which also features two NRL men's fixtures and a men's Super League game. 'It would be amazing to be involved,' says Dagger, who has not ruled out following other leading players to the NRLW in Australia one day. 'If I was approached, I probably would go because it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Right now, though, I couldn't be happier because I have everything here with my job, family and rugby career. I wanted Will and I to be a power couple and successful in our rugby careers. I honestly think we've achieved that.'
