Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers youngsters in England contention for tour Down Under

Joe Burton in tryscoring action for Leeds Rhinos. Picture by Steve Riding.

The 43-strong squad will be competing for places on a tour to New Zealand and Australia in August and September.

The Leeds players are Joe and Oli Burton, Corey Hall, Rian Rowley, Liam Tindall and Iwan Stephens.

Danny Attley, Archie Fletcher and Cain Robb will represent Castleford.

The squad will meet for the first time at Weetwood Hall in Leeds on Wednesday.

Academy Origin matches are scheduled for May 13 and June 24 at Batley and Wakefield respectively, with training sessions taking place at Weetwood throughout the spring and summer.

The tour squad will be selected at the end of June. Full tour details will be announced in due course.

Dave Elliott, the Rugby Football League's national programmes manager, said: “The purpose of the England academy programme is to identify players who have the potential to play international rugby league at senior level in the future and to create development opportunities for them here and now.

“We’re very excited about the prospect of a tour Down Under, but there’s a lot of hard work before then and nobody is certain of a place.

"We’ll be keeping a keen eye on club form, listening to club coaches and running regular training sessions throughout the year. As in 2019, this year’s Origin fixtures will form a significant part of the preparation and selection process.

The squd is: Jake Anderson (Newcastle Thunder), Cole Appleby (St Helens), Danny Attley (Castleford Tigers), Harvey Barron (Hull FC), Lewis Baxter (St Helens), Dean Beddall and Luke Broadbent (Warrington Wolves), Joe Burton and Oli Burton (Leeds Rhinos), Nathan Clemmitt (Newcastle Thunder), Lewis Dodd (St Helens), Alex Donaghy (Newcastle Thunder), Jacob Dugdale (Widnes Vikings), Jude Ferreria (Hull FC), Archie Fletcher (Castleford Tigers), Jacob Gannon (Warrington Wolves), Corey Hall (Leeds Rhinos), Umyla Hanley (Wigan Warriors), Danny Hill (Widnes Vikings), Jacob Hookem (Hull FC), Ellis Longstaff (Warrington Wolves), Aidan McGowan (Huddersfield Giants), Ben McNamara (Hull FC), Isaac Nokes (Newcastle Thunder), Matty Nicholson (Wigan Warriors) and Brad O’Neill (Wigan Warriors), Taylor Pemberton and Jamie Pye (St Helens), Cain Robb (Castleford Tigers), George Roby (Warrington Wolves), Fenton Rogers (Huddersfield Giants), Rian Rowley (Leeds Rhinos), Harry Rushton (Wigan Warriors), Jumah Sambou (St Helens), Harry Shackleton (Bradford Bulls), Iwan Stephens (Leeds Rhinos), Robson Stevens (Huddersfield Giants), Alex Sutton and Jack Taylor (Wigan Warriors), Josh Thewlis (Warrington Wolves), Liam Tindall (Leeds Rhinos), Kai Tyson (Hull FC), Connor Wrench (Warrington Wolves).