Academy Origin to be part of the Summer Bash at Blackpool
The Academy Origin clash between Lancashire and Yorkshire will be part of the Summer Bash at Blackpool this year.
The Academy Origin series will kick off at Castleford’s Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Saturday, April 20 (2pm).
Fixture two will take place on Saturday, May 18 (11am) at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road, which will be part of the Championship Summer Bash.
And fixture three will be staged at Bradford’s Odsal Stadium on Saturday, June 15 (2pm).
There is an additional emphasis on the Origin series in 2019, with no England Academy internationals against southern hemisphere opposition this year, although many players in these squads will aiming to stake a claim for the tour of Australia in 2020.
Umyla Hanley, the son of Ellery who plays his Academy rugby for Wigan, is named for the first time in the Lancashire squad – and is joined by Jarrod O’Connor, the son of the former Wigan and Great Britain prop Terry, who recently joined Leeds Rhinos from Widnes Vikings.
They are joined by Jack Welsby of St Helens, who starred in England Academy’s 2-0 series win against the Australian Schoolboys in the winter – and has followed a number of other players from that squad into the Super League in recent weeks.
Welsby is one of eight Saints youngsters in the Lancashire squad, while his 2018 England team-mate Tom Holroyd is one of seven players from Leeds Rhinos in the Yorkshire squad.
Holroyd is joined by Conner Wynne, who made his Super League debut for Hull FC at Salford last weekend, and Morgan Smithies, the Halifax-born forward who was another member of the successful England Academy squad last year, and has made an immediate impact with Wigan in recent weeks.
Luke Robinson will coach the Yorkshire team, with Ian Talbot coaching Lancashire.
The RFL hope to confirm soon that live coverage of all three matches will be available on the Our League app.
Lancashire: Billy Glover (Widnes), Connor Wrench (Warrington), Ethan Havard (Wigan), Harry Rushton (Wigan), Jack Welsby (St Helens), Jake Bradley (Whitehaven), Jake Wingfield (St Helens), Jamie Pye (St Helens), Jarrod O’Connor (Leeds), Joe Barnes (Warrington), Josh Simm (St Helens), Josh Thewlis (Warrington), Kye Siyani (St Helens), Lewis Baxter (St Helens), Lewis Dodd (St Helens), Matthew Foster (St Helens), Reece Hamlett (Wigan), Sam Halsall (Wigan), Sam Walters (Leeds), Umyla Hanley (Wigan).
Yorkshire: Brad Martin (Leeds), Conner Wynne (City of Hull Academy), Connor Bailey (Wakefield), Corey Johnson (Leeds), Dom Young (Huddersfield), Ellis Longstaff (Warrington), Harry Shackleton (Bradford), Jack Broadbent (Leeds), Jack Croft (Wakefield), Jacob Gannon (Warrington), Kai Tyson (City of Hull Academy), Lewis Peachey (Castleford), Liam Tindall (Leeds), Liam Whitton (Leeds), Mikey Lewis (City of Hull Academy), Morgan Smithies (Wigan), Rian Rowley (Leeds), Riley Dean (Warrington), Tom Holroyd (Leeds), Yusuf Aydin (Wakefield).
