Fresh from extending his stay with the club into a third season, 23-year-old hooker Will Jubb revealed there is nowhere else he would want to play his rugby.
“I’m really pleased to have re-signed for the Knights,” Jubb told the club website. “I absolutely love it here and I’m really honoured to still be a part of the York City Knights story.” After spending the last three seasons at the club, the first of which on loan from Hull KR, Jubb has been with the club throughout the growth in recent years and expressed his delight at continuing to work with those at the club. “Having the chance to play in front of the amazing fans we have here and continue working with the great coaching staff and lads was something I really didn’t want to pass up,” he said.
His first season with the club saw the Knights reign supreme in Betfred League One and led to a sterling 2019 season where the club finished third, reaching the Championship play-offs. After being a part of those triumphs, Jubb is confident that this is just the start. “I think that the club continues to go from strength to strength. The facilities we have are absolutely top-notch, the coaching staff are great and that makes the Knights a really attractive club for anybody to be part of,” he professed.
Jubb has appeared over fifty times in the Knights shirt and last season saw him form a hooking partnership with former Salford Red Devils hooker and Knights’ scholarship graduate Kriss Brining, someone Jubb admits he loves working with. “I’m great friends with Kriss and really enjoy training and playing with him,” he explained, continuing “we’re always pushing each other to improve our game, whether that’s in extras or during the actual session.” Outlining the supportive yet competitive element of their partnership, Jubb noted that “it’s great to have that as it drives us to be the best we can be. I definitely learn off him – hopefully he learns a little bit from me as well!”
While the Knights have had training facilities at the York St. John Sports Park in recent seasons, the time is fast approaching where the LNER Community Stadium will be completed and the Knights will be able to take to the field. Understandably, that is something the former England Universities international is looking forward to. “I’m really excited to play there,” he said. “It looks absolutely magnificent and the facilities are fantastic. It’s another way the club is growing and expanding and it’s a testament to the club that we are able to have something like that built.”
Eagle-eyed Knights fans will have seen the range of images of the new stadium and wider complex on our social media feeds and, while fans are excited to soon be setting foot in the new facility, Jubb admits he will take pride in taking to the field. “It’s a really positive move and to be able to play in a stadium like that regularly will be a real privilege,” he expressed.
Upon Jubb’s re-signing, head coach James Ford professed that Jubb’s development in recent years is in no small part down to “Will’s drive to be better, his intelligence and his approach to feedback.” With that in mind, Jubb is focussed on improving his game over the course of the coming season through nothing other than hard work. “I always want to improve my game and try to take it to the next level so I’ll be putting all my effort into that,” he explained. “We have a great group of lads at York so, personally, I want to be playing week in, week out and will be doing everything I can to earn, and then keep, a place in the side,” he added.
“As a group we will just take each game as it comes and give our best to try and win each one which will hopefully put us in a good position at the business end of the season.”
While the enforced end to the Betfred Championship season and the large break for players, staff and fans alike has been frustrating, Jubb has been making good use of the unexpected extra time off by studying for his doctorate (PhD) in Fisheries Science at Hull University. “I’ve been putting a lot of time into that,” he explained, adding that “although I’ve really missed rugby, this break has given me chance to get a lot of work done so I’m in a good position with that at the moment.” While he has spent time away from the game doing fishing and spending more time with his family and friends, Jubb remarked on the players’ group on Strava which has been driving his teammates and himself to push themselves through the break. “All the lads have still been training hard and the group on Strava means we can see what everyone is doing,” noting his belief that that will help the team come the start of pre-season.
Jubb’s signing and the continuous work on retention and recruitment wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support from our fans, not only through the Squadbuilder fund but also, recently, after an amazing collective gesture from the fans. More than 93% of our Season Ticket holders, Premier Club members, Vice Presidents and Platinum Members elected to donate the money from this year’s memberships to the club, something Jubb has been humbled by. “Whatever I say, I feel it won’t be worthy of how much the patrons and Squadbuilder have done for the club,” he admitted. “For that many to become patrons is absolutely outstanding and just shows how we have the greatest and most loyal fans.”
“The fans are unreal and lift us through the game, you don’t realise how much of a lift they give you unless you’re playing, especially in tight games,” Jubb explained. “This gesture just takes them to a whole new level and the club and I couldn’t be more thankful for the support and generosity they have and continue to show.”
“I just want to say a massive thank you to all the fans, patrons and Squadbuilder – we’ll see you all again soon!”
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