Following England’s Rugby League Ashes disappointment, both fans and the media are looking at who was to blame for such an underwhelming campaign.
Whether it be the tactics, the lack of preparation or poor team selection, it’s hard to argue one more so than the other, with a combination of factors all playing a part.
Shaun Wane has been a man in the headlines across the world, with his future a huge talking point with the next World Cup less than 12 months away.
However, the fact is that there must be changes heading into the World Cup next year, and that is regardless of whichever coach leads England Down Under.
For them to even get out of the group stages, which will be a huge task in its own right, it will take a lot more than just three changes, but the biggest red flags in international rugby league need to be addressed.
Three changes England must make to improve Rugby League World Cup chances
Coaching changes
Whilst Wane may not have covered himself in any sort of glory this campaign, England’s failures are not completely down to him.
To his credit, he has built a national team full of pride and belief in each other, however belief is simply not enough. There needs to be the product on-field to match the opposing nations, and against Australia, England showed none of that in the moments it mattered most.
If any coach is to leave their role after this campaign, it might be Lee Briers. Whilst Wane’s selection choices didn’t help, the current attacking coach’s ideas and tactics were far too simple for the Australians to defend, and it is no coincidence that he is also employed in the same role for St Helens too. In matches against the teams who finished in the top three this year, Saints averaged just over eight points per game.
Across the three Tests, England managed just 18 points, and 10 of them came from the boot of Harry Smith. A much-improved attack is mandatory if they are to have success next year.
Selection issues
‘Credit in the bank’ – a phrase England fans are bemused at the thought of, and it is one that Wane used to explain some of his controversial selection choices.
Whilst the likes of George Williams, John Bateman and Alex Walmsley to name a few, have all done well for England in the past, the game will always continue to develop and the available players who are most in form need to be selected.
Man of Steel Jake Connor was left out of the squad, whilst Williams, who had a terribly poor season at Warrington and hadn’t played since August.
Matty Nicholson was one of the best back-rowers in the NRL this year, yet was overlooked as Kallum Watkins got the nod. That is no criticism of Watkins, though, he performed brilliantly in the final two Tests, however with the World Cup in mind, a younger squad needed to be selected.
England buy-in
One thing that did hinder England that was out of their control was the fact there was no mid-season international or warm-up game to the series to help build combinations and allow Wane to see his best side in action before the opening Test.
The Super League season stopped that from happening, whilst the Grand Final being just a fortnight before the Wembley Test made no room for a warm-up without some players having no break in between.
However, Super League and the RFL have that ability to tweak things so there is room for those sorts of preparations. Even just more training sessions together would be a start, and an international window in the middle part of the season would go a long way to England’s chances.
It’s not just the prior preparations that were a problem though.
We’ve seen in this Ashes tournament that Australia have come over to the UK and engaged with fans, held open training sessions and tried to put the series on the map.
England, meanwhile did nothing of the sort, so much so that in the week leading up to the Headingley Test, they didn’t host a single event in Leeds, and only travelled to the stadium for the first time on game day.
How can we expect to drum up interest and encourage new fans to watch the sport if we don’t do the bare minimum to promote the game?
International rugby league needs to be on the forefront of the RFL’s mind, and they need to do everything they can to improve the English national side.
