JORDAN Abdull will be given an opportunity to stake his claim in the Hull FC pack as the teenager prepares to switch from the stand-off position.
Abdull, who was recently crowned player of the series for England Academy against the Australian Schoolboys following his performances at stand-off, spent the recent week-long camp in Portugal training with the forwards.
Seemingly being groomed as an understudy for Joe Westerman, Abdull is no stranger to the loose-forward role, a position he regularly occupied for Hull's under-19s last season.
Expected to take up that same role again for Richard Horne's academy team, Lee Radford says he'd like to see Abdull push to compete with Westerman for a place in the Hull first-team at loose-forward.
"I'd like to give Jordan a go at loose-forward because I feel he has all the attributes to play a very similar role to the one Joe does for us," Radford told the Mail.
"Not only that, but he's got a fantastic kicking game as well, which is to his advantage."
While training as a forward, Abdull will remain as one of Radford's half-back options thanks to his natural ability and evidence from 2014 that he can successfully occupy that role.
"He is comfortable playing in the halves, but he is also very comfortable playing at 13 and as
a third middle man for us too," added Radford.
"I believe long term Jordan will end up at 13. But, to be able to jump into both roles at the moment gives us more options."
Abdull's pre-season with Hull was interrupted by his three weeks with the England Academy, with the 18-year-old returning from that series win and heading straight to Portugal with the Black and Whites.
Keen to make further improvements in the former Bishop Burton College student's fitness and physicality, Abdull is one of several players being pushed hard at training.
Having made his debut at Wakefield Wildcats in June this year, the versatile player went on to make eight senior appearances for Hull, cementing a reputation that has been hard-earned in the academy game.
"Physically he looks better than he did 12 months ago and there will be even more improvement ahead of the start of the season in February," explained Radford.
"Playing for England affected his pre-season with us, but he's back into full swing now, doing all his extras and conditioning work too."
