LEIGH Beattie insists his players are raring to go ahead of their season-opener next week following their 16-12 friendly defeat at City of Hull Academy.

The Under-19s raced into a quick two-try lead courtesy of scores from Harry Shackleton, who was making his debut alongside Kieran Brining and Daniel McGrath.

City of Hull Academy hit back with 16 unanswered points, having trailed 12-4 at the break following a fast start by Beattie’s men.

With attention now turning to the season opener against St Helens next week, the Under-19s head coach believes the warm-up will prove a beneficial exercise for his squad.

“It was a good learning curve, we kept changing stuff and trying new things which is what friendlies are all about,” said Beattie.

“It has been a good exercise for us ultimately. It is all about development at this stage and now I have a rough idea of the squad for next week.

“The players recognised these are the games where we need to iron things out and they are trying to fix things and that understanding will be massive to their development.

“There were some big minutes from the forwards – Bradley Ho made some good carries and Anesu Mudoti brought some real energy and fire when he came on.

“It speaks volumes of where we are at as a system that the likes of Rowan Milnes and Oliver Wilson have been playing first-team rugby but are still eligible for the 19s.

“Next week against St Helens the intensity will increase further and it will be a whole new ball game for us.”

Next Thursday’s season-opener against St. Helens will now take place at Bradford Dudley Hill’s base, kick-off 7:30pm.