Scotland’s players will have come from as far afield as Accrington to Ayrshire, Glasgow to Gillingham, and Wick to Wolverhampton to be at the inaugural Rugby League Commonwealth Championship on 27 June at Broadwood Stadium.
The squad selected by coaches Dave Rotheram and John Duffy includes six Scottish-born players, with two players from Edinburgh Eagles, two from Ayrshire Storm and two from local club Easterhouse Panthers.
They will be joined by several youngsters with Super League Academy experience: Hull KR hooker Jack Stewart and London Broncos full-back Richard Harris, both of whom captained Scotland Under-18s last year, two newcomers in Warrington Wolves’ 17-year-old second-rower James Jones and Broncos’ 6ft 4in centre Harvey Burnett and former St Helens academy member, Ollie Murray, now of Thatto Heath Crusaders.
“By definition it’s a young squad as it’s an Under-19 comp, but only five of the lads have played for Scotland before, so that will be a challenge for the newcomers but an exciting one,” says coach Duffy, the former Scotland and Warrington half-back.
“We were pleasantly surprised at the standard of some of the players at the two trials we had. It’s enabled us to put together what looks like a decent squad and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
The make-up of the Young Bravehearts squad indicates how Scotland RL operates, using the Scottish diaspora to strengthen the development work being done north of the border. Trialists from every club in Scotland attended the trials in Edinburgh, and the spread of players south of the border is remarkable.
“Some lads travelled 500 miles to come to a trial. They came up from Surrey and Kent and down from Cumbria and Newcastle to our trial at Bolton last week,” adds Duffy, who retired from playing three years ago and joined the Scotland RL coaching team the following season.
“That shows the commitment our players have. They are very proud to represent their country and their parents’ country.”
In the RLCC2014 tournament at Cumbernauld’s Broadwood Stadium in North Lanarkshire, which is part of the Homecoming Scotland festival of events, Scotland are in Group A, where they will face Wales, Jamaica and Australia. They will return the next day for the play-offs and semi-finals stage. Entry on both days is FREE.
SCOTLAND
Billy Holden (Accrington), William Black, Conor Turnball (both Ayrshire Storm), Jack Feeney, Kieran Wyber (both Easterhouse Panthers), Lewis Clarke, Finn Murphy (both Edinburgh Eagles), Kieran Crook (Guildford Giants), Jack Stewart (Hull KR), Harvey Burnett, Richard Harris (both London Broncos), Oliver Murray (Thatto Heath Crusaders), Shane Toal (Ulverston), James Jones (Warrington Wolves), Alex Jobson (Waterhead).