YORK rugby league starlet James Morrow is eyeing a move into the semi-professional ranks after winning more representative honours at amateur level.

The 23-year-old from Dringhouses, who now plays for Hull Dockers ARLC in the National Conference premier division, has been picked for the BARLA (British Amateur Rugby League Association) Select squad who will undergo a six-day tour to Italy in June.

The Select squad is effectively a reserve line-up for the BARLA open age side, and there is a chance Morrow could yet be promoted to the first team's tour to South Africa also in June.

Morrow left local club York Acorn a month ago to sample life at the highest level of amateur rugby and has impressed enough at both Acorn and Dockers to catch the eye of at least two semi-pro National League clubs.

Perhaps surprisingly, York City Knights are not one of them, even though Morrow did well against the Knights playing for the Mark Cain Select team in Cain's Testimonial match in January.

Morrow, who is in his last year at Sheffield Hallam University studying electronic engineering, has already represented Great Britain Students, touring both Australia and France last year. He also plays for Yorkshire Students and Scotland Students, qualifying for the latter as he was born north of the border and has a Scottish father.

He is also set to play for Scotland next month in the European Nations Student internationals.

"I'd like to keep improving as a player," he said. "I'll probably look at taking (my career) further, probably to semi-professional level rather than full-time, but you never know.

"I was playing well for Acorn and they put me forward but nothing came of that. But then I went to Hull Dockers and played against Leigh Miners, who have a coach involved in the BARLA Great Britain set-up. He saw me play and that was it."

Morrow, York-born and bred, came through the junior set-up at Acorn. He added: "I loved it at Acorn but I felt I needed a bit of a challenge at premier division level."