“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do” – Victor Radley explains why he wants to represent England at the Rugby League World Cup

Today it was confirmed that Victor Radley would represent England at the World Cup giving Shaun Wane’s side a significant boost as they look to be the first British side since 1972 to win the competition.

Radley is a two-time NRL Champion and is highly rated down under but bizarrely has never represented Australia or even New South Wales despite being in squads for both.

However, he has now turned his back on the Green and Golds fulfilling a desire to play for England and represent his father’s country who was born in Sheffield.

In an official statement, he said: “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

“I’ve always wanted to play for England for my old man. Everybody wants to do the right thing by their dad, don’t they?

“Dad’s proud of where he’s from, proud of his family, proud of supporting Sheffield Wednesday.

“This was a gut feeling that it’s what I want to do – and with the World Cup coming up in England at the end of this year, it was now or never.

“If I ended up sitting there watching the World Cup and knowing I could have been playing for England – that wouldn’t have felt good.”

It now opens up the question, will he replace Morgan Knowles as England’s first choice 13 or will he be used as a versatile option off the bench.

Either way it means a Super League player is likely to miss out whether that’s a nine on the bench or indeed Knowles.