THERE is a name many Warrington Wolves fans may not recognise in the 21-man squad to face St Helens on Thursday.

Young prop forward Luke Thomas is among those in contention to face the defending champions for what would be his senior debut for the club.

> Click here to check out the full Warrington Wolves 21-man squad

Here’s a little bit more about the potential debutant…

Latchford Giants junior product

Thomas is a 19-year-old front rower who came through the junior ranks at Latchford Giants before joining the Warrington academy.

Prior to joining the Giants' under 11s team, he first picked up a rugby ball at Sandbach RUFC while he also played the 15-man code for Warrington RUFC alongside his junior league.

Having captained the Latchford teams from under 12s all the way through to under 16s, he was picked for representative duty for Wales under 16s and won the under 16s prize at the Warrington Man of Steel awards in 2019.

Warrington Guardian:

Luke Thomas - back row, third from left - during his Latchford Giants days

While at the Wire academy, he was selected as part of the Lancashire squad for last year’s Academy Origin clash with Yorkshire.

When his time at the academy ended, Thomas was offered terms to remain at the club as part of the returning reserves side.

As such, he has appeared in all five of Danny Evans’ side’s matches this year, with the latest being Friday’s defeat to Wakefield Trinity.

Warrington Guardian:

Luke Thomas

Likened to former Warrington Wolves skipper and ex-England star

Thomas is said to be known as "Jammer" among first-team players as his style of play was likened to former St Helens, Canterbury, St George and England prop James Graham.

"He’s a top team player who loves the physical side of the game," said Matt Wilkinson, one of his former coaches at Latchford.

"He's not the loudest player but doesn’t need to talk with the physicality he has - that talks for him."

Former Wire prop Paul Wood coached Thomas as part of his work with the Wire academy last year and he drew comparisons to one of his former teammates.

Daryl Powell already impressed

Thomas has had a brief taste of first-team action after coming off the bench during the pre-season friendly victory over Salford Red Devils earlier this year.

And his performance caught the eye of head coach Daryl Powell, who was impressed with what he saw.

“I thought he was great when he came off the bench,” he said after the game.

“He’s a real tough front-rower who puts his foot down – he was really good.”