The penultimate game of Leeds Rhinos Under-16s Scholarship's season sees Mark Butterill's side head to The Jungle on Wednesday night as they face Castleford Tigers, kick off 7pm.

The young Rhinos were forced to share the points with Wigan Warriors last time out at AMT Headingley as tries from Wade Smith, Will Mathers, and Sonny Hetherington contributed to a 22-all draw. The result came after the Rhinos got back to winning ways against Wakefield Trinity earlier in June, giving them a record of four wins, one loss and one draw after six games.

Hetherington's try against the Warriors broke the centre's two-game scoring drought as he remains the side's top try scorer with seven. Along with Jack Mears (five tries) and Noah Sheriffe (four tries), the trio have been the main threats for Butterill so far in 2025, and they hope to finish the season strong with two games remaining against the Tigers and St Helens at the end of the month.

Watch the highlights from the Wigan game here:

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Castleford have had a tough season so far as they've only got two wins to their name after six games. The Tigers managed to take the win against Salford back in April in a tight 32-30 clash, but they had to wait almost two months to get back to winning ways as Hull FC were defeated 42-30 at The Jungle.

Huddersfield, Wigan, Bradford and Warrington have taken wins away from Castleford in their other four games of the campaign, so the Tigers hope to get a winning result against a Leeds side that the Fords haven't beaten in the Scholarship competition since 2019. Hull KR also await later this month as preparations then move to 2026.

Team News

Six changes from the draw with Wigan sees Butterill notably give first Scholarship appearances to Ethan Lee and Dexter Cooper as the duo are named on the bench for the Tigers test. Alfie Quinn and Oliver Vincent are back in the side after missing the Warriors game, plus Oscar Brown and Ellis Johnson are also included on the bench after making their Under-16s debuts in the 66-0 away win over Leigh Leopards.

Joe Gill moves into the centres for his first starting appearance of the campaign, and Connor Lawrie moves back into the pack for his second start of the campaign. Liam Watson and Sam Oldroyd swap positions as Watson gets his first opportunity to feature at full back too in the only other change from the last game.

Sonny Hetherington, Noah Lunn, Brennan Townend, Jack Mears, Sam Oldroyd and Robin Smith maintain their places in the lineup as the only players to feature in all seven Scholarship games for the Rhinos so far in 2025.

The team in full is:

1. Liam Watson sponsored by Abzorb

2. Sam Oldroyd sponsored by Pro-Tech Automotive 

3. Joe Gill sponsored by Fitness Magpie

4. Sonny Hetherington - Available to Sponsor

5. Alfie Quinn sponsored by Search Equity Release

6. Jack Mears sponsored by The Safety Consultants Company

7. Seth Marchant sponsored by Oak Electrical

8. Robin Smith - Available to Sponsor

9. Noah Lunn sponsored by Waterforce Property Services

10. Connor Lawrie - Available to Sponsor

11. Dan Shaw sponsored by JPG

12. Alfie Steel sponsored by T&A Powering Maintenance

13. Brennan Townend sponsored by Crossroads Truck and Bus

14. Oliver Vincent sponsored by Lycetts

15. Ben Smith sponsored by Pivot

16. Dexter Cooper - Available to Sponsor

17. Ellis Johnson sponsored by PS Welding & Engineering

18. Oscar Brown sponsored by Clean Space

19. Ethan Lee sponsored by Milner Richards Building Contractors

20. Will Mathers sponsored by Barhale

To sponsor a Rhinos Scholarship, Reserves, Men's or Women's Academy player, contact our Sales team on sales@therhinos.co.uk