Shaun Wane has big say on Harry Newman

Leeds Rhinos star Harry Newman is finally set to make his England debut.

It seems a long time overdue but injuries have constantly worked against the centre.

The Huddersfield born centre made his Leeds debut in 2017 becoming the first player in Super League history born in the 21st Century.

It soon became clear that Newman would be a great player and by 2019 he was emerging as Leeds’ first choice right centre and that was cemented in 2020.

Newman was named Super League Young Player of the Season in 2020 but he suffered a double leg break.

Since then he has routinely picked up hamstring injuries that have derailed his career and denied him England selection.

This year England boss Shaun Wane made it clear that he wasn’t impressed with Newman’s attitude on the field in what was a difficult year for the centre.

However, an injury to Jake Wardle has given Newman his chance and Wane believes he will send Newman back to Leeds for 2024 a better player.

He said: “I’ve had a few chats with him, and he’s been honest with me and I’ve been honest with him and we all know what a talent Harry is; he can play, he’s a great ball carrier, he can defend, he’s very competitive, sometimes over-competitive. Hopefully we’re sorting him out and we’re going to see the best of Harry in this three-term series.

He also revealed improvements in Newman: “More from our chats. I’ve got more from that. I’m very positive that he’s going to turn the corner and Leeds will get a better player back.”

Wane also spoke on the international game going in the right direction: “I think a lot of credit needs to go to the International Board, to Super League Europe. It’s so impressive that we have put these games on, we’ve needed an International Calendar.

“You look at the strength of the game moving forward with when the International Calendar was announced, with this series and then some more next year, then the World Cup and the trustees were shocked in there. Super League’s improved this year because of the World Cup last year and we fell short on the semi-finals, so I think everybody deserves a lot of credit to get their international calendar together.”

As well as the the World Cup: “We’ve had our off-feet meetings and some sessions together and we just moved forward and when I found out about this we just put together a camp accordingly to suit everybody and so I’m of the opinion we’ll deal with it when it comes and if it’s whatever it is we’ll you know we’ll work out and make sure the camp’s good.”