England academy hooker Corey Johnson to make debut as Leeds Rhinos sign off for season

Coach Richard Agar confirmed Johnson, 18, will play in Rhinos’ final game of the season at home to Coral Challenge Cup winners Warrington Wolves on Friday.

Signed from Lock Lane, in his home town of Castleford, Johnson was a member of the England side which whitewashed Australian Schoolboys in last year’s two-Test series.

“He has got a terrific engine and he’s a gold-standard kid,” Agar said of Johnson who has played twice on dual-registration for Featherstone Rovers. “He is a very good dummy-half and he can run.

“He has got plenty of leadership in him and my own personal opinion is he is a cracking young player.”

Agar warned: “We don’t expect too much too soon.

“We will get an opportunity to have a look at him on Friday and it gives him a bit of a taste.

“I feel he has got a lot of development and physical improvement in him.

“It might be a big pre-season for him, but we will get a little look and see how he goes when he gets thrown in at the deep end.

“And he will have an experienced pack around him.”

Johnson will be the seventh teenager to make a first-team appearance this season.

And Agar said: “One of the things I see about the club is we have got some really good youngsters. This club has had its success through building on a generation of kids who’ve come through its system.

“I think that’s the way to go.

“It is our duty to get people like Corey Johnson, Tom Holroyd, Cam Smith, Harry Newman and Mikolaj Oledzki into bona fide genuine first-graders.

“And you have got your team for a generation then.”