PLANS to trial a “surprise package” at hooker have been shelved by York City Knights player-boss Chris Thorman – though it has not been scrapped altogether.

Teenager Ed Smith has now emerged as the player to whom Thorman was referring when revealing earlier in pre-season that he was looking at throwing a young gun into the pivotal role.

Thorman remains confident Smith – normally a back-rower – could have what it takes to tackle the challenging positional switch.

But, with extra potential playmakers now in the squad, such as Jordan Tansey, Brett Turner and trialist Jon Gay, to add to first-choice hooker Jack Lee, teenage prodigy Kris Brining and half-backs Lee Williams and Thorman himself, the player-coach sees no need to rush anything.

“When I had conversations about him in that position, we were a bit short at hooker but now we have more competition so it’s not somethng I’m going to be hurried into doing,” said Thorman, confirming that Smith was the lad he had in mind.

“It’s something in the back of my mind, along with a few trillion other things. We will see how he goes when we run him there in training. Right now I want him to be the best second-row or centre, but he is definitely capable in my mind of taking on such a a new challenge.”

Asked about Smith’s potential for the specialist role, Thorman said: “His defensive capabilities are excellent and his technique is excellent.

“It will probably be more to do with decision-making, but he’s a tenacious character.

“He’s 19 but he doesn’t get daunted by anything; he just gets on with it. It was like in the Hull KR (Challenge Cup) game last season when he was played on the wing – he doesn’t let anything bother him. He will take anything that’s thrown at him.

“He can take opponents on, he’s quick and athletic. It’s maybe something to challenge him. If we trained specifically for him to play in that position (hooker), I’m sure he would be able to succeed at it, but we’ll see how we go.”