England head coach Shaun Wane wants a shock inclusion for this year’s World Cup.
On home soil, England will be attempting to break the monopoly held by Australia and New Zealand in recent competitions to lift the Paul Barriere Trophy with former Wigan Warriors boss Wane at the helm.
One of those players that Wane is set to look towards is Brisbane Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth, who has been sidelined for a number of months with a horrendous bicep injury.
Born in Lancashire, Farnworth has impressed the England boss to a great extent.
“I will have no qualms with Herbie joining us for the World Cup. I can’t wait to coach him,” Wane told the AAP.
“While his injury was serious, I know that Herbie is an absolute professional and looks after himself so well.
“I met with him in Australia at the Magic Round weekend and was really impressed with his maturity. I like the way he does all the fundamentals well. He has good technique and he’s so strong as a centre.
“What I really like is that he had the guts to go to Australia as a young kid, tough it out and go on to shine at Brisbane.”
Farnworth’s uncle and mentor, former Wigan Warriors scout Brian Foley, also praised the young centre for how he has responded to his injury.
“Herbie’s biceps is not fully healed. It is healed enough, but not quite enough to play in the NRL competition,” Foley told the AAP.
“He thought he was going to make it for the final round game against St George but I spoke to him and it wasn’t worth the risk.
“He is very upset. He wanted to play with it, but Herbie is Herbie.”
With Farnworth set to take one centre spot, it leaves the likes of Harry Newman, Mark Percival and Jake Connor to fight for the other.
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