Six Hull FC Academy players have been named in the Yorkshire Academy Origin squad for the first match of the upcoming test series against Lancashire.
The opening match of this season’s battle of the roses takes place at Castleford’s Men-A-Hose Jungle on Friday 28th April (7.00pm), with several Black & White youngsters set to be involved having been selected by England’s Head of Pathways Paul Anderson.
Having featured for Yorkshire last season, Kye Armstrong and Sully Medforth are included once again, and are joined by Jeylan Hodgson, Cobie Wainhouse, Will Hutchinson, and Jack Charles.
Hull’s Academy side have enjoyed an impressive start to the 2023 Academy Championship season, with three victories from three after strong showings against Bradford, London and Hull KR putting them joint top of the league table.
Paul Anderson, Head of England Pathways, said: “Everybody involved in Academy Rugby League – players, coaches, clubs – is really excited about this year’s Origin series. For heads of youth at individual clubs, the focus is very much on developing talent.
“Academy Origin takes those players to the next level, where the emphasis is on performance. This is where we identify and develop the players who have the potential to become elite performers on the domestic and international stage.
“This year we play France in the first England Academy international since 2019 and then we’re building towards Rugby League’s Youth World Cup in 2025.
“There’s everything for these lads to play for. I’ve worked closely with clubs to identify the 42 players chosen this time around and they will all received one-to-one feedback on their performance. Last year we eventually used close on 70 players over the three matches, so squads will evolve as the season unfolds.”
Details of the three match test series can be found below:
Game 1 – Mend-A-Hose Jungle, Friday 28th April
Game 2 – Sewell Group Craven Park, Saturday 27th May
Game 3 – Totally Wicked Stadium, Friday 18th August
Both squads can be found in full below:
Yorkshire Squad:
Kye Armstrong (Hull FC), Jacob Bateman (Bradford Bulls), Jack Billington (Huddersfield Giants), Noah Booth (Warrington Wolves), Jack Charles (Hull FC), Lennie Ellis (Hull KR), Lucas Green (Warrington Wolves), Matt Hanley (Huddersfield Giants), Bobby Hartley (Leeds Rhinos), Jeylan Hodgson (Hull FC), Jack Hudson (Huddersfield Giants), Will Hutchinson (Hull FC), Maddox Jeffrey (Wigan Warriors), Ben Littlewood (Leeds Rhinos), Sullivan Medforth (Hull FC), Max Merta (Huddersfield Giants), Oliver Pratt (Wakefield Trinity), Joe Ritho (Huddersfield Giants), Cai Taylor Wray (Warrington Wolves), Cobie Wainhouse (Hull FC), Ethan Wood (Wakefield Trinity)
Lancashire Squad:
Joe Bajer (Warrington Wolves), Harvey Braddish (St Helens), Ryan Brown (Wigan Warriors), Leon Cowen, Owen Dagnall (both St Helens), Jack Farrimond (Wigan Warriors), Ben Hartill (Warrington Wolves), Taylor Kerr, Nathan Lowe (both Wigan Warriors), Thomas McKinney (Warrington Wolves), Lukas Mason (Wigan Warriors), Ciaran Nolan (St Helens), Tom Ratchford (Wigan Warriors), Will Roberts, Harry Robertson, Dayon Sambou (all St Helens), Jack Sinfield (Leeds Rhinos), Ewan Smith (Warrington Wolves), Noah Stephens (St Helens), Nolan Tupea (Warrington Wolves), Jon Vaughan (St Helens)
STORY SPONSOR
