Eight players unlucky not be in Shaun Wane’s Ashes squad including Wigan Warriors and Hull KR trio

Shaun Wane named his 24-man England squad for this autumn’s Ashes at midday and it’s fair to say there were a few surprises with just three Hull KR players named despite their treble-winning season.

In terms of inclusions, the likes of Joe Burgess, Tom Johnstone and Mikolaj Oledzki will be talking points. However, when it comes to omissions, there are several that some will be left scratching their head over.

Of course, Wane can’t pick everyone and the fact that he had such a big pool of potential England players to choose from probably says a lot about the standard of talent he has at his disposal right now.

Below, though, we’ve named eight players who have every right to feel unfortunate not to be selected.

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Who was unlucky to miss out on Shaun Wane’s Ashes squad?

Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors)

Thompson is arguably England’s best prop on his day, so this omission must be due to injury. He’s had his struggles with a number of issues this season and he wasn’t at his barnstorming best in Saturday’s Grand Final with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves getting the better of him on a couple of occasions.

His omission does make room for Alex Walmsley to return to the fold though and that’s a call-up he deserves.

Jake Connor (Leeds Rhinos)

Deep down we all knew this call-up wasn’t coming and Shaun Wane will be asked his reasons why in a press conference this afternoon. Connor has been the best player in Super League this season and he was named Man of Steel last week to hammer home that notion.

For an English Man of Steel winner to be left out of the national team seems bizarre, but it might just boil down to his face not fitting in a Shaun Wane picked team.

Junior Nsemba (Wigan Warriors)

Nsemba’s consistency in form hasn’t been there this season, but the destructive back-rower will still feel hard done by not being involved. The Wigan Warriors man’s size and strength could have been a pivotal weapon for England, as it was for the Cherry and Whites last season and in the opening few months of the 2025 campaign.

His age might have worked against him and his form tailing away over the middle part of the season won’t have helped either, with the forward losing his starting spot under Matt Peet to Sam Walters.

Tom Davies (Hull KR)

Wane has picked three Hull KR treble winners with Joe Burgess getting the nod after his brace in the Grand Final on Saturday. It is unknown whether Burgess was in the squad before those efforts but it’s fair to say Davies has been just as good this season in red and white.

Davies scored what would prove to be the match winning try in the Challenge Cup final and he scored 17 tries in Super League over the course of the campaign.

Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors)

Like Thompson, Marshall being left out was a surprise but again, he has had his injury issues this season and that could have played a part.

The winger started for England last year versus Samoa and while he hasn’t been prolific this season, he has still managed to score 15 tries and set up nine and his form earned him a spot in the Dream Team. His work coming out of backfield has been excellent, too, with the winger racking up 3746 metres over the course of the season.

Dean Hadley (Hull KR)

The Rovers back-rower can feel hard done by not to be involved after his tremendous treble winning season. Hadley has had arguably his best year to date individually in a pack that has rarely been second best this season, something that was hammered home by his inclusion in the Dream Team.

However, he’s 33 now and he’ll probably suspect that this Ashes series was his last chance to get the England nod.

James Batchelor (Hull KR)

The Rovers man was named in Wane’s mid-season squad. He was a Challenge Cup winner when that was announced and he has since gone on to win the League Leaders’ Shield and the Grand Final.

The back-rower was spectacular in the Grand Final, too, rising to the occasion and really putting his best foot forward to help the Robins over the line. As such, he will feel as though he could not have done any more when it comes to being selected for England but it wasn’t meant to be this time.

Matty Nicholson (Canberra Raiders)

The 22-year-old enjoyed a spectacular start to life in the NRL with Canberra, scoring five tries in his first seven games for the Green Machine.

However, injury struck in round 10 and although he did manage to make two appearances for Canberra before the end of the season, he never managed to regain his spot in the side.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Your #EnglandRL squad for the 2025 @ABKbeer Rugby League Ashes! pic.twitter.com/KxcWLwqwsi

— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 13, 2025