Leeds Knights with big skates to fill as influential Fin Bradon heads off on international duty

He may be the second youngest player on the Knights roster - 16-year-old Edgars Vengis holds that honour after being called up from the club’s NIHL One team - but Finley Bradon has made one of the biggest impressions in NIHL National this season.

The 19-year-old, who came through the Billingham junior system, has gone from strength to strength in only his second full year with the Knights.

He has posted 17 goals and 19 assists in 31 games this season putting him fifth overall in the Knights’ scoring and already surpassing the 22 points he collected last season.

On Thursday, he flew out to the Croatian capital of Zagreb with the rest of the Great Under-20 squad to compete in Division 2A of the World Championships, his third tournament representing his country.

As a result, he will miss Saturday’s derby duel with Hull Seahawks and the following day’s trip to Berkshire Bees.

He will also be absent for the weekend double-header against Bristol Pitbulls on January 11-12.

It will be a big hole to fill for the Knights, with line-mate Oli Endicott outlining how important Bradon is to the Knights’ silverware hopes this season.

“Fin has been unbelievable this year,” said Endicott, the beneficiary of a Bradon face-off win which led to him scoring in the New Year’s Eve National Cup semi-final second leg win over Sheffield Steeldogs.

“He’s found his feet in this league massively. He’s been given an opportunity and he has taken it.

“I love playing with him, he’s a great guy, he knows when to shoot, he knows when to pass - that’s the reason he’s got so many points so far.

“He plays a massive role on our team now, including the power play and on our line he’s a big centre man, he wins the draw, he’s good defensively and he is putting up big points for us, so he will definitely be missed by our team over the next couple of weekends.”

As with every international tournament, hopes are high that the Under-20s can earn an overdue promotion by winning the gold medal over China, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania and the hosts next week.

Endicott, only a year older than Bradon himself, believes his team-mate will have a big role to play out in Zagreb next week.

“I know if he plays like he has been for us, he will have a really good World Championships with GB.

“We’re going to miss him, but we’ll try and get them done for him and he’ll come back flying better than ever from his time with GB and that will help him and us when he gets back.”

Endicott says all talk about the National Cup final has taken a backseat heading into today’s visit from Hull, who are desperate to claw some points back on the Knights, having gone through a rough spell prior to Christmas before potentially turning a corner with back-to-back wins over the Steeldogs last weekend.

With the experienced Dec Balmer back in their ranks, Endicott anticipates another fierce derby encounter at Elland Road (face-off 6.30pm).

“Bringing Dec back is massive for Hull,” added Endicott. “He’s a big defenceman for them and will definitely have an impact on their team, he plays a lot of minutes, he’s tough and he knows his role.

“But we don’t change. We just go at them hard as we always do and we know we can beat them. It will be another big derby game but we love those kinds of games, we thrive on the big games against Hull and Sheffield.”