Hull's Star Student Briscoe Faces Toughest Test

Little more than six months ago, Tom Briscoe was an A-level student at Pontefract New College aiming for a good season with Hull's under-21s and maybe, if things went really well, the odd first-team appearance. Tomorrow he will mark St Helens' hulking New Zealand wing Francis Meli in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

"Crazy, isn't it?" the shy 18-year-old said as he reflected on a meteoric rise that began one Thursday afternoon in February. It was then that he was called away from his studies to join the senior Hull squad for the first time as they prepared for their opening game of the Super League season at Warrington. "At the start of the year my goal was to get a few games under my belt and then see what happens next season. Then I got a call at college to go across to stop with the first team in their hotel, and the next night I was playing against Matt King."

It was that display against King, the powerful Australian center, that caused the Hull coaches to re-evaluate Briscoe's potential. "He was only 17 then but right from the start of the year, he's handled everything that has been thrown at him so impressively," said Hull's coach, Richard Agar. "He's a very exciting prospect not only for Hull, but also for British rugby league, especially when people worry about our shortage of outside backs."

Briscoe, who will become the youngest cup finalist since Francis Cummins played for Leeds as a 17-year-old in 1994, has still made only 13 Super League appearances but Agar even believes that he could be a long-shot for selection in the England squad for this autumn's World Cup. That would be a novel way of beginning the year out that he has planned before embarking on a sports science course at Hull University, having gained a B and two Cs in his A-levels.

He spent the first half of the Super League season combining those studies, in geography, biology and sports science, with training at Hull, and one Friday in June he took an exam paper in the morning then played a Super League game at night. "It's only since I finished my exams six or seven weeks ago that I've been able to come across to all the morning sessions," he explained. "But I had a few frees [free periods], so it wasn't too bad."

His unexpected emergence in the Hull first team has been followed closely by his school friends at Pontefract and especially his geography teacher, Tim Neil - a keen fan of Featherstone Rovers. Briscoe also grew up watching Featherstone, his local club, so the first Wembley final that he refers to, when asked, is Rovers' 1983 triumph against Hull. This took place seven years before he was born, when Featherstone were coached by Allan Agar, Richard's father. "It wasn't in my lifetime but with Fev winning I've heard plenty about that, and there's been something said about it this week too," he said.

His only first-hand experience of Wembley came this time last year when he went to watch St Helens' victory over Catalans Dragons with his team-mates from the Featherstone Lions amateur club. "It's going to be a bit different this time," he said. "It would have been way out of the question if you'd told me I would be going back as a player so soon. I've got my mum and dad, my two brothers, and my gran and grandad coming down to watch.

"The way St Helens throw the ball about a lot, it's going to be a tough challenge to get myself in the right position to stop them. But it was like that on my debut against Matt King. I'm just excited about the whole thing."