Josh Thewlis has a bright future at Warrington, insists Steve Price

Warrington coach Steve Price said he was chuffed to be able to hand a debut to young-full back Josh Thewlis.

Thewlis became the second youngest player – only behind now Leigh coach John Duffy – to make his debut for the Wolves at the age of 17 on Saturday.

The former Waterhead Warriors junior helped the Wolves beat Catalans 34-4 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Speaking after the game, Price said: “I’m very pleased to give a debut to Josh.

“You coach for these type of days and when you see a 17-year-old – the second youngest player to make his first-team debut in the club’s history – it is fantastic. He has come through our scholarship and our academy system and it makes me a proud coach.

“I wouldn’t have put him in if I didn’t think he was tough. There were two examples that stood out to me for me to give him his debut, one was last year when he was playing in the Under-16s against Wigan at Crosfields and although it wasn’t his best game, his will to win was outstanding.

“And the other example was when we went on an army camp, he was phenomenal. It was tough and it nearly broke a few players but he was good.”

Seven of Warrington’s 17-man squad that beat the Dragons came through the club’s academy, something in which Price is keen to see more of.

He added: “I’m really big on giving opportunities to the local community kids and that’s the route we are going down moving forward. Hopefully there will be a few more in the years to come.

“Josh has got a bright future, but he has got a lot of hard work ahead of him and we will make sure we keep him grounded.

“We lost Stef Ratchford and Jake Mamo, so Josh got his opportunity. I had to make sure that we weren’t just playing him for the sake of it. He was ready and he showed that today.

“He is still only a young kid and has a lot of growth to go. We have got a duty of care as coaches to look after him and we will.”

More on site

Warrington ease past Catalans – talking points & ratings

“European tour” affecting Catalans, admits Steve McNamara

David Argyle fires himself as Toronto chairman & CEO over racism claims