England Uni call for Bryan

SUPER SAINT . . . Dominic Bryan on the charge for Oldham St Anne's against Waterhead

OLDHAM St Anne's prospect Dominic Bryan has been selected for the England University squad which will jet off to Sydney, Australia, for the Student World Cup.

The 24-man squad head Down Under on July 1 to compete in the prestigious two-week event.

The England team had three trial games together against the RAF, St Helens reserves and the UK Armed Forces, and have two more games to go before they depart.

That is on top of the excellent regional and Origin games that the players featured in ahead of selection for England.

The squad will be one of the most diversely selected by England Universities coaches ahead of a Student World Cup, with 14 universities represented.

Leeds Beckett and Gloucestershire top the pile with four players each, while Hull has three and Loughborough and Nottingham Trent have two, but just one player has been selected from Manchester Metropolitan University.

That is Bryan (22), who started playing for St Anne's at the tender age of five, and apart from a brief stint at Higginshaw, he has remained at the Higginshaw Road outfit ever since.

A former captain of Saints' title-winning under-18s team, Bryan is now a regular feature in the club's first XIII.

He went to Christ Church School in Chadderton, followed by North Chadderton School, and is currently in his final year studying for a Law degree.

He has played for the MMU team, becoming captain in his second year and chairman this year.

In 2015, Bryan, who plays second row for the university, was selected for GB Pioneers for a tour of Bosnia.

GOOD NEWS

It has been quite a week for Bryan who, as well as being in the middle of his exams, secured a job as a paralegal and received the good news that he had been selected for the England squad soon after.

Participation in the squad is self-funding, though, and Bryan now needs to try to raise £2,400 for kit and equipment, flights, accommodation, travel, insurance and tournament participation fees.

With six weeks until he leaves for Sydney, the pressure is now on to raise the funds required.

To support Bryan ahead of his trip of a lifetime, you can do so by logging on to: www.gofundme.com/dombryan