TABLE topping Warrington Wolves under 19s face St Helens in the Academy competition qualification semi final in a curtain-raiser to the senior team's play-offs clash with Widnes Vikings at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday.

Wolves, coached by Danny Fullerton and Lee Briers, have lost only four times in a stunning season so far, although two of those defeats came in the league against Saints.

Saturday's tie kicks off at 12.15pm.

Meanwhile, Wolves have now confirmed speculation of a few months ago that they have added youth international Morgan Smith to their under 19s squad for next season.

Half-back , who had been on Leeds Rhinos' books, represented England Youth under 16s during 2012 and 2013.

Wolves' head of youth, junior recruitment and development, Ben Lazenby, says the 16-year-old former Stanley Rangers junior is expected to make it into the club's first team in a few years' time.

“Morgan is a very talented young halfback," said Lazenby.

"As a player he possesses great understanding and reading of the game. His foresight and ability to control a game is very high for a player of his age and he also has the skills to be able to exploit that game understanding. We are all excited to see how he progresses and expect to see him playing in the first team in a few years' time.”

Lazenby said Smith's talents had been on Wolves' radar for a considerable period of time.

"He was spotted a few years ago by our scouts in Yorkshire and we have tracked him very closely since, with Steve Cooper monitoring his performance under the national talent ID system that we have in place, managed by Peter Farrell.

 

“As soon as we saw Morgan we knew he was a special player and had the right kind of personal characteristics for Warrington Wolves. We were delighted to secure his signature this summer. He is a marquee player and getting him on board will strengthen our under 19s significantly in 2015."