HUDDERSFIELD Giants are backing their top scholarship pupil Ryan Heeley to lead England Under 15s to international glory.
The Newsome Panthers rising star is set to play against Wales in Aberavon next Friday.
He will be playing alongside players from scholarship schemes from other Super League clubs, with hopes high that England will prove far too strong for their Welsh hosts.
And Giants football manager Stuart Sheard believes that if the rest of the England squad are as talented as Newsome High School pupil Heeley, the outcome will be inevitable.
"We are not at all surprised that Ryan has been called up," said Sheard.
"He really is an exciting young talent and we have no doubt that he will do an excellent job for England.
"The only question mark is whether he will start the game at full-back or in the centres.
"But we know that wherever he's picked he'll give an excellent account of himself.
"When Ryan goes on the Rugby Football League's National Camp he is always one of the star pupils for his age group.
"That was why we were so pleased that he joined our scholarship scheme when we know he could have had the pick of a number of others.
"We're loooking forward to seeing how he gets on against Wales, but we've no doubt that he will fly the Huddersfield flag high and proud."
To mark his England call, he was presented with a senior Huddersfield Giants tracksuit from head coach Jon Sharp.
Sharp is taking a keen interest in the development of the junior players on the Giants' books and is delighted that one of the club's scholarship pupils has gained international recognition.
"I hope Ryan is the first of many young players on our books who gets picked to play for their country," said Sharp.
"It's a fantastic honour for Ryan, but it's also a fantastic honour for the Giants.
"But I can't say I'm surprised Ryan has been selected.
"He really is a player with a tremendous amount of potential and I'm sure that under our development programme he'll continue to improve.
"The fact he's a local product just makes his selection even better."
