BOYHOOD Bulls fan Elliot Minchella admits it would be a "real honour" to play in Jamie Peacock's testimonial on Sunday.

The Leeds rookie is hoping to be given the nod to feature in a match to recognise Peacock's incredible career, which has seen him win a record eight Grand Finals.

The first three of those successes came in the red, amber and black of Bradford, the latter five with home-town club Leeds, and the 37-year-old will retire at the end of the 2015 campaign.

Bradford-born Minchella, who grew up in Wibsey and played his amateur rugby at West Bowling, idolised Peacock on the Odsal terraces a decade ago.

The teenager said: "JP was one of my heroes in that all-conquering Bulls team. I remember him being a tall back-rower back then before he moved into the front row.

"He was a leader and since I've been at Leeds I've seen that first-hand – he's a great talker but he goes out and does it himself too.

"As a young lad coming through, there is nothing better than having someone like that to look up to and learn from.

"JP has captained Great Britain and achieved everything in Super League that anyone could ever dream of achieving as an English rugby league player, so I would be honoured to play a part in his testimonial game."

Minchella, who turns 19 later this month, made his Super League debut for the Rhinos in August 2013, coming off the bench to score a late try in a thumping win at Salford.

He was part of the Leeds squad who recently spent a week in Florida on a pre-season training camp and played in Sunday's victory at Hunslet.

Minchella, who played in the England Academy side who beat the Australian Schoolboys in the second Test last month, said: "It was good to get out to Florida and I was rooming with Rob Burrow. Like JP, he's been there, done it and had a great career.

"I wanted to put my name in the mix in pre-season and give Mac (Brian McDermott) a reason to pick me. I want to do everything I can to be involved in the 17 as often as possible this year."

Minchella is versatile and could get a run-out at hooker against the Bulls on Sunday.

He said: "I played 40 minutes at hooker against Hunslet and I played there a bit against the USA Pioneers in Florida too.

"I enjoyed getting my hands on the ball, so I'm going to work on playing at hooker for a few weeks and see how that goes.

"I'll start the season off with the under-19s at hooker and then see how I go from there. I'm still a second-rower or loose forward but I like to give myself extra options."

Two of Minchella's close pals – Vila Halafihi and Nathan Conroy – are hookers in the Bulls squad.

"Nathan is a Bradford lad and a good mate of mine and I played a season with Vila when he was at Leeds," explained Minchella.

"I spoke to Vila quite a bit when he was out at Penrith last year and he's a talented player. Once he spots a gap, he's gone, so I can see him doing well at Bradford."

Peacock's testimonial will be the Bulls' final pre-season friendly after the club confirmed that they will not rearrange Sunday's postponed visit of Huddersfield.