The teenagers will join Tony Smith’s squad for pre-season training this November.

Hull FC have confirmed that eight players from their academy system will join the first-team squad for the 2024 season. The players have all signed their first professional contracts with the club and will start pre-season training on November 6.

Two players, Kye Armstrong and Mackenize Harman, made the step up to the first team a couple of months ago, with six more set to join them for the upcoming pre-season campaign. They are Lennon Bursell, Jack Charles, Jeylan Hodgson, Sully Medforth, Logan Moy, and Cobie Wainhouse.

All eight players have come through the club’s Centre of Excellence programme, which was recently graded as ‘Outstanding’ by the RFL thanks to a club-wide focus on youth development, not to mention some outstanding facilities at the University of Hull.

Read more: Hull FC Academy graded ‘outstanding’ by RFL as first-team realisation made

Adding to Tony Smith’s side, the eight players who starred in both the club’s Academy and Reserves sides throughout the year will add further depth and competitiveness to the squad, with Hull now having 22 members of their first team that are homegrown products.

Here are the eight players in full.

Kye Armstrong – an old-school loose-forward who values the ball-playing side of the game. Kye, a tall and strong player, can also double up as a prop or back-rower. He made the step up to the first team already this year and was given a squad number back in January.

Mackenzie Harman is a stand-off half who has also featured at loose-forward. The young gun has a strong running game and a big boot. He is a goalkeeper and also played for Yorkshire this year.

Jack Charles is a highly rated full-back or half-back who the club has high hopes for. He played for England against France in the summer and makes the step up to first-team after an impressive first year in the academy.

Cobie Wainhouse: The fiery prop has had a superb year at Hull after joining from the Bradford Bulls. He was drafted into the first-team squad before the club’s final home game and got a taste of what it’s all about. Tony Smith has already said he’ll be ‘surprised’ if Cobie doesn’t make his Super League debut next year.

Jeylan Hodgson, the nephew of former England international Josh Hodgson, will now look to make his own mark in the first team after an impressive first year at the club. The hooker was signed up to the academy at the start of the year, just weeks after arriving back in the U.K. from a stint in Australia.