Great Britain, England Nines and Knights squads begin preparations

A selection of the players who are set to represent Great Britain, England Nines and England Knights will meet this week to begin preparations for the upcoming Autumn internationals.

Great Britain will play a four-game tour against New Zealand, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, England will compete in the inaugural World Cup 9s tournament, while the Knights will face up against Jamaica at Emerald Headingley on October 20.

Players, coaches and support staff will meet twice this week at the Manchester Institute of Health and Performamce for sessions led by Knights coach Paul Anderson and England Pathways coach Paul Sculthorpe.

At this stage, the group of 24 players includes 10 from the Great Britain Elite Performance Squad, and 10 from the Knights’ Performance Squad.

The group does not include any players from the three teams still involved in the Super League playoffs or the players based in the Australian NRL, while Castleford quartet Jake Trueman, Mike McMeeken, Liam Watts and Greg Minikin have been given an extra week of rest and recovery.

England’s 16-man squad for the World Cup Nines in Sydney will be announced next Sunday (October 6), ahead of their departure for Sydney on Saturday October 12, while the 24-man Great Britain squad be will announced on Monday October 14.

Training Group: Mike McMeeken, Greg Minikin, Jake Trueman, Liam Watts (Castleford Tigers), Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons), Matt English, Kruise Leeming, Jermaine McGillvary, Darnell McIntosh, Oliver Wilson (Huddersfield Giants), Josh Bowden, Jake Connor, Masi Matongo (Hull FC), Chris Atkin (Hull KR), Ash Handley, Harry Newman, Mikolaj Oledzski, Cameron Smith (Leeds Rhinos), Rob Butler (London Broncos), Reece Lyne (Wakefield Trinity), Blake Austin, Daryl Clark, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Joe Philbin, Danny Walker (Warrington Wolves).