Jake Bradley, Whitehaven’s talented teenager, has been called up for the Lancashire squad to contest the three-match Academy Origin series.

Both Lancashire and Yorkshire can draw on Cumbrian players if they want but Bradley is the only one chosen for the championship which begins at Castleford on Easter Saturday.

In fact Bradley, a former Hensingham amateur, is the only player in the Lancashire squad from outside Super League apart from Billy Glover who is with Championship club Widnes Vikings.

Bradley is in exalted company with Lancashire’s squad including Umyla Hanley, the son of Ellery who plays his Academy rugby for Wigan Warriors, and Jarrod O’Connor, the son of the former Wigan and Great Britain prop Terry, who recently joined Leeds Rhinos from Widnes Vikings.

Whitehaven coach Gary Charlton said: “Jake is a bit special. He trains the house down, comes in for extra training and is exceptionally keen to improve.

“This selection is a real boost for him. It shows the respect there is for him in the game.

“Jake hasn’t had much game time for us this season, playing down in West Wales and he knows he has things he can improve in his game.

“But there’s no doubt in my mind that Jake is going to play a big part of what will be happening at Whitehaven over the next few years.”

There is an additional emphasis on the Origin series in 2019, with no Academy internationals against southern hemisphere opposition this year - although many players in these squads will be aiming to stake a claim for the tour of Australia in 2020.

The second match of the series will be played at Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road stadium on Saturday ,May 18 as part of the Betfred Championship Summer Bash weekend, with the series concluding at Odsal, Bradford on June 15.