Shaun Wane’s England squad has shone so far in the World Cup and they will be hoping that they continue to do so today up against Greece.
Wane is an experienced coach and has masterminded three Super League Grand Final wins during his time as Wigan Warriors boss.
Despite this, Wane hasn’t been afraid of calling upon support from other coaches, even coaches from other sports.
This week the squad was visited by England football legend Stuart Pearce and on this Wane said: “He’s an impressive Englishman who is very passionate and we’ve learnt a lot from him and he’s got a lot from us. He spoke very highly about what he saw from our session.”
So Peare was very impressed with the session he saw with Wane asking if there was anything they could do better: “Thankfully there was nothing they identified that was wrong with it.”
St Helens man Joe Batchelor was also thankful for the experience and said it was more than just about football: “No it wasn’t specific about his own experience, he wanted to give us some different ideas from lots of different sports and different ways people are challenging at the top and their mentality.”
Meanwhile, Wane said influences like this were vitally important: “It’s really important and that’s why we’ve had other people in and will have other people in. I’ve had many chats with Stuart and I want the players learn that there’s different ways of improving in rugby league.”
He also revealed that he speaks to England football boss Gareth Southgate on a regular basis and has invited him to games throughout the tournament: “I spoke to him this week over texts over a few things and invited him to some games.”
A footballing influence isn’t the only sport outside rugby league having an influence with Wane revealing that they had a visitor from the Olympics: “We had the strength and conditioning guy from Olympic badminton and hockey.”
Leigh Leopards
Leigh Leopards and their problem position
