Sponsored by
Leeds Rhinos: Young guns urged to put on a show at York City Knights
MISSION: Leeds Rhinos youngster Liam Hood will be keen to impress against York City Knights.
Leeds Rhinos’ youngsters have been challenged to prove they can play with the big boys.
Rhinos will send an under-20s squad to Co-op Championship side York City Knights on Sunday and boss Chris Plume is looking for his kids to show they deserve an opportunity at senior level.
Full-timers Brad Singleton, Liam Hood, Stevie Ward, Jamel Chisholm and Daniel Smith will all feature, just four days after returning from Rhinos’ pre-season training camp in Cyprus.
Hood and Singleton in particular are expected to be pushing for a first-team call in 2012, but Plume said they need to prove they can handle a big step up.
York’s line-up includes ex-Leeds full-back Jordan Tansey and former internationals Chris Thorman and Paul King.
“York have got a pretty experienced squad and they will be near enough full-strength, so it is going to be a really tough game,” said former under-18s boss Plume, who has swapped roles with Damian Gibson.
“It’s an opportunity for some of the lads to put their hands up and signal their intentions for the rest of the year.”
Plume was on the Cyprus camp and said the players with squad numbers have to put what they learned to good use.
“All the full-timers eligible to play in the under-20s will be playing, apart from Jarred Stuart and Luke Briscoe who are both injured,” he said.
“They’ve had a good few months, we started in November and culminated in the camp in Cyprus. They have done some really good stuff, they’ve practised well and pushed each other really hard.
“Some of them played on Boxing Day, but Sunday is a chance for them to get a bit longer on the field and put into practice what they have been learning and for them to lead from the front.”
Rhinos’ squad includes Jack Pring, a trialist from South Wales Scorpions.
The York squad boasts more Super League games for Leeds than Rhinos’ does. Of Leeds’ 20, only Singleton – one substitute appearance last year – has played in the top-flight.
Tansey made 50 Super League appearances for Leeds from 2006-8 and Knights will feature ex-Rhino George Elliott, who played once last year.
Knights’ line-up also includes ex-Leeds academy player Brooke Broughton, who is dual-registered with Warrington Wolves and former Hunslet trio Waine Pryce, Adam Sullivan and Tommy Haughey.
York City Knights from: Haynes, Pryce, Ford, Elliott, Hellewell, Sutton, Thorman, Williams, Tansey, Lee, Brining, King, Benson, Sullivan, Aldous, Broughton, Haughey, Clarke, Houston, E Smith
Leeds Rhinos: Watson, Agoro, Keinhorst, Normington, Chisholm, Ward, Casey, D Smith. Hood, Syron, Bravo, Stott, Singleton. Subs Olds, Brown, R Smith, Roche, Morgan, Pring, Nicholson.
Referee: Jamie Bloem (Halifax).
Kick-off: Sunday, 3pm.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.