London Broncos have handed first-team contracts to five on their Academy players.
Jonah Verella, Josh Hodson, Will Blakemore, Rob Oakley and Jacob Jones will all join pre-season training when it starts next month.
It means around 70% of the club’s first-team squad will be home-grown players in 2021.
“We believe in producing our own players and a squad made up of over 70% homegrown lads is something we are immensely proud of,” Ward said.
“It takes a big investment of time and energy to do this, but we have seen the success this brings the club over the years and we’ll continue to do so. As well as the current squad, you only have to turn Sky on at a weekend and see Super League littered with Broncos Academy graduates.
“This is just the start of the next chapter for these lads, there is plenty of hard work ahead, but they have shown the right attributes so far and we look forward to seeing their progress continue.”
