Jet-Setters Fly the Flag

THREE of Hull's brightest amateur rugby league talents will fly over 1,500 miles to make their debuts for BARLA Great Britain this summer.

Skirlaugh's Scott Mountain and James Tindall and Myton Warriors' Kris Walker have been selected in the GB under-21 squad for a tour of Russia from June 24.

The 10-day tour will see the BARLA team, who are coached by Hull-based Tony Spence, go up against Moscow's senior side and face two other club sides.

For Myton's scrum-half Walker, who will turn 21 on May 30, it will stretch out on an already long year of rugby for the starlet.

After helping the Warriors win Division Two in 2009, he then went on a tour of the south of France with the NCL Eagles, a select side from Division One and Two of the National Conference.

On his return, Walker helped Myton finish fifth in their first season in Division One – just two points off promotion.

But with the campaign stretching out until the start of May because of the bad weather, the 20-year-old from north Hull is facing a year without much of a break.

Walker, who works at Jewson's Timber Yard in Hull, has already attended three training sessions with the under-21 squad in Dewsbury ahead of flying out to Russia next month.

He will then come straight back into pre-season training ahead of the 2010/11 season with the Warriors, but this is not something that worries Walker.

He told the Mail: "I don't think playing all this rugby will be a problem, I feel in great shape and was an ever-present at Myton last season – plus I've always been lucky with injuries.

"I had a chat with Lee Fewlass (Myton team-mate who went to Ukraine last year) and he just said what a great experience it is to go out to places like that, what a great level it is to play at and how proud I'll be to play for my country.

"I'm not sure whether it will be hot or cold in Russia, but I know we'll be up against a big set of lads.

"I'm just hoping to play every game and hopefully if I do well I will get into the under-23 squad next year."

Walker attended primary school with Tindall at Endike and was there at the same time the Skirlaugh full-back lost fingers from his right hand.

Tindall's remarkable turnaround, which has seen him undergo 43 operations to reconstruct his fingers, sees him picked for the first time for Great Britain – something Walker says is a "great achievement".

Prop Mountain, meanwhile, is in his second year studying a BTEC National Diploma in Sport at Wilberforce College – who have offered the 19-year-old support so he can attend the Russia trip.

The Skirlaugh ace said: "The dad of one of the Skirlaugh players is a coach for the Great Britain team. He saw me play a few times and I was lucky enough to be selected for the team.

"It's the highest level of amateur rugby league I can play, so training with the team should really improve my skills."

While Walker, Mountain and Tindall all embark on their first taste of the amateur international scene, many other Hull players will be off on their travels once more.

Myton coach Kevin Armitstead is the assistant coach of the BARLA under-23 squad, who are heading out to Ukraine for the second year running at the start of June.

Impressive Warriors prop Fewlass is once again in the squad, after going on the same tour during 2009, and he is joined by Myton team-mate Ashley James.

In the senior squads, Skirlaugh's Sean Wildbore will skipper the GB Community Lions on a tour of South Africa this summer.

He is joined by Skirlaugh duo prop Steve Atkinson and half-back Jordan Precious, with Matty Bower on the reserves list.

East Hull prop Lee Brown is also in the squad, while Hull Dockers full-back Danny Ulyatt is also on the reserves list.