In the absence of several injured players and with his NRL contingent still unavailable, Wane fielded four debutants against the Combined Nations All Stars.
Huddersfield Giants center Jake Wardle, one of those who enjoyed his first taste of international rugby league, marked the occasion with a memorable attempt.
Wigan Warriors striker John Bateman won the man of the match award, but Wane was at pains to emphasize that even he is not guaranteed a place in his World Cup squad.
“I’m not sure John is one of them,” Wane said.
“I’d say three or four are nailed down. When I say the door is open, I mean it and I proved it with Jake Wardle today.”
“Honestly, it doesn’t bother me what people think. I know and listen to my coaches who are well educated and I watch every game.”
“If someone is playing really well, it’s an open door. Anyone can make their way into the England team and that’s really positive for our competition.”
“I thought Sam Tomkins did some good things today and other things that were ordinary. He would be pretty much nailed at full-back, but if his form drops, he’ll be out. The players wouldn’t expect anything else.” .
“I think it’s exciting. Jake Wardle will read that comment and think, ‘I’m going to play really well for Huddersfield.’ I’ll pick players who are flying.”
England moved the ball around in the mid-season international at Halliwell Jones Stadium and had some joy in drawing juice from a huge All Stars package.
Wane will employ similar tactics at the World Cup as he looks to build on England’s strengths.
“It was a good game against a good team,” he said.
“I think we did some really good things overall, just some things we need to get better at, but more good than bad. The things we’ve practiced over the last 12 months we did very well.”
“It’s how we attack, our form in the first few moves and things like that, where we can take advantage of the English style and we did it in patches today.
“We are not the largest nation. We don’t have 250-pound guys, so we have to play to the strengths of our players.
“We need more people on the move and live, and our skill needs to be very good. We did it in patches, but not enough for me.”
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-18 20:14:03
