Brian McDermott makes first major call as England head coach with captaincy and uncapped player plans shared

England head coach Brian McDermott has already set out his stance on who will captain the nation under his leadership, stating that he does not have ‘any intentions on changing the captaincy’ from incumbent George Williams.

Officially announced as England head coach at 8 am on Thursday, 23rd April, McDermott addressed members of the media shortly thereafter and fielded plenty of questions, including on reigning Man of Steel Jake Connor and if he had a role to play under a Brian McDermott-coached England.

McDermott answered clearly that Connor has been treated ‘unfairly’ under the former regime and explained that the Rhinos man would be in his plans for the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

One of the men who got in England’s Ashes squad ahead of Connor was current England captain George Williams with the NRL-bound half the only spine player to start every match of the 3-0 series loss to Australia.

Asked if he held any thoughts on the captaincy of the nation, McDermott put his full support behind Williams and insisted that he currently has no intent on changing from the Warrington man.

“I think George does a tremendous job. I think he’s really good,” the new England boss said.

“I admire him, I’ve watched him from a distance. I’ve never really met him and never had anything to do with him, other than coaching against him.

“I don’t have any intentions on changing the captaincy.”

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Brian McDermott outlines policy on young players

Based on Williams having started the season in brilliant form and McDermott’s glowing comments, it’s fair to assume that at least one member of England’s World Cup squad is fixed in place but the head coach was also asked about his willingness to field uncapped players, and more specifically young players.

Whilst debuts were handed out in the recent Ashes series, they went to senior players in AJ Brimson and Owen Trout, with the youngest member of England’s squad being 24-year-old Dom Young, who already boasted five caps.

Asked if any young players were catching his eye, McDermott refused to name any but also made it clear that he likes the work of a number of veteran players with one such man he could have been talking about being 35-year-old Kallum Watkins, who played under McDermott during his time in charge of Leeds Rhinos.

“There’s a few (young players catching the eye) and there’s a few old soldiers who are still doing their job really well, so I’m not going to single anyone out,” McDermott said, before asserting that he holds no fear of throwing younger players into his World Cup squad.

“I wouldn’t have any drama throwing anyone in there. If they’re playing well and they’re not scared of running on their front foot, and their game is full of do’s and not full of don’ts.

“Coaches have a tremendous ability to put a load of don’ts into players. ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that’, some of those young fellas have got a load of do’s about the game. They’re keen to do things, so I wouldn’t have any drama putting a young fella in there.”