Politics
Will Pryce can be polished into future England player in Knights’ camp
WILL Pryce is in the international rugby league finishing school and being showed what he can do better will benefit England.
The Huddersfield starlet will face Jamaica for England Knights – the nation’s second string – tomorrow as focus turns towards the next two World Cups.
Will Pryce has been told he can be polished into an international playerSWPIX.COM
SunSport understands the Caribbean island looked at picking the son of former star Leon for the tournament, which is now next year, only to find he does not qualify by one generation.
But if he keeps up his meteoric rise, he may be in line for a place in Shaun Wane’s squad – even though he is earmarked more for 2025.
And the teenager will definitely be prepared after Knights boss Anderson – a St Helens team-mate of his dad – has told him where he is going wrong.
He said: “The glimpses he showed during Super League definitely showed he is a talent.
“But I’m fairly confident having gone through his game with a fine-toothed comb there are things that we know and he knows he can get better at.
Pryce has been touted for big things at club and international level after a fine first seasonSWPIX.COM
“And if we can expose him to international rugby early, expose those things early and make him better, that means further down the line we have a better player for England.
“There were no worries about me picking a former team-mate’s son either. It’s not about Leon and it’s not about me.”
Tomorrrow’s clash at Castleford – Tigers star Jordan Turner’s testimonial – is the only match a men’s England side will play at home this year.
And Anderson believes the Jamaica factor can have a bigger off-field impact, as the make-up of the 7,113 crowd for their last meeting in 2019 showed.
He added: “Look back to when the Knights last played Jamaica, the crowd that day was unreal.
England Knights face Jamaica, who they played in 2019SWPIX.COM
“Opening up to more people and more markets can only enhance the game, both internationally and at club level.”
Senior England coach Shaun Wane will run the rule over the likes of Pryce, Kai Pearce-Paul, Lewis Dodd and Mikey Lewis in the Knights’ clash after they impressed in Super League.
And he concedes the packed fixture list, which meant sides had to call on young talent to fill their squads, could be a good thing in the long run.
He said: “There are that many young kids in Super League, it made it very enjoyable to watch but also very positive for the future when you saw how young they were coming through.
“And because squads were rotated with that many games in close proximity, the amount of games young players played was unbelievable.
“It’s a positive, no question.”
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