The squads have been named for the latest instalment of the 2025 Academy Origin series – which takes place at Sewell Group Craven Park on Saturday 2 August (KO 12pm).
The Rhinos have 13 players in the 21-man Yorkshire squad, including Dacx Jones-Buchanan, the son of former Rhinos player and seven-time Super League Grand Final winner with Leeds Jamie Jones-Buchanan. St Helens and Warrington both have eight players in their squads, with Lancashire’s Flynn Holden chosen after a hat-trick against Leigh Leopards Academy on Saturday. The Wigan Warriors have six new players, including Mike Porter, Harlen Smith, Jaiden Drachenberg, and George Marsden, who will be representing Lancashire for the first time.
Archie Sykes, who made his Super League debut for the Huddersfield Giants earlier this season, is also in the Yorkshire squad, as are Castleford Tigers’ Alfie Lindsay and Wakefield Trinity’s Robbie Brook and Ellis Lingard. Lancashire’s head coach will be Wigan’s Shane Eccles, with assistants Ryan O’Brien of Warrington and James Simpson MBE, a member of England’s Wheelchair World Cup winning squad in 2022 who has been head coach of the Leeds Rhinos Wheelchair team for the previous two seasons since retiring as a player. Yorkshire’s head coach will be Castleford’s Rob Nickolay, with Huddersfield Giants veteran Leroy Cudjoe and Wakefield’s Matt Nicholson assisting.
Luke Gale for Yorkshire and Gary Wheeler for Lancashire will serve as mentors for their respective squads. On August 2, Sewell Group Craven Park will host an Origin double-header, with the Women’s Origin matchup following the second men’s Academy Origin match of the season. Tickets for the event will cost £5 for adults and £2 for concessions. The men’s Academy match will begin at midday, followed by the women’s match at 2pm, both of which will be live streamed on the RFL YouTube account.
Yorkshire
Alfie Lindsay (Castleford Tigers), Archie Sykes (Huddersfield Giants), Callum Kemp (Hull FC), Chris Matagi (St Helens), Dacx Jones-Buchanan (Leeds Rhinos), Daniel Stelfox (Leeds Rhinos), Ellis Lingard (Wakefield Trinity), Frankie Dearlove (Hull KR), George Brown, Harley Thomas, Harry Smith, Jacob Hardy, Jacob Stead, Joe Diskin, Joe Butterfield (all Leeds Rhinos), Lloyd Kemp (Hull FC), Marcus Qareqare, Oscar Brown, Presley Cassell (all Leeds Rhinos), Robbie Brook (Wakefield Trinity), Zak Lloyd (Leeds Rhinos)
Lancashire
Alfie Tate (St Helens), Billy Keeley (St Helens), Charlie Walker, Daniel Regan, Ewan Irwin (all Warrington Wolves), Finlay Yeomans (Wigan Warriors), Flynn Holden (Warrington Wolves), George Marsden (Wigan Warriors), Harlen Smith (Wigan Warriors), Jake Ramsden (Warrington Wolves), Jaiden Drachenberg (Wigan Warriors), Kian McGann (St Helens), Kian Stanton (Warrington Wolves), Lachlan Webster (Warrington Wolves), Matt Evans (St Helens), Michael Porter (Wigan Warriors), Oliver Garmston (St Helens), Ollie Morgan (Warrington Wolves), Oscar Knox (St Helens), Shea O’Connor (Wigan Warriors), Thomas Humphreys (St Helens)
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