Willie Peters responds to Shaun Wane’s comments about star needing to “fix things up”

Shaun Wane named an experimental England side on Saturday but there was still a big call made by the former Wigan Warriors coach in the halves.

He had a choice between two of the brightest young stars in Super League to go alongside Warrington Wolves star and England skipper George Williams.

It was a choice between the electric Hull KR halfback Mikey Lewis and Wigan’s young star Harry Smith.

In the end, Wane went for Smith but after the game he explained how tough it was leaving Lewis out and winger Josh Thewlis.

He said:

“Having that conversation with him and Josh wasn’t easy. Normally I find it quite easy but that wasn’t.

“The way they have trained and handled themselves they have been impeccable and they are a credit to their clubs.

“I am so impressed. The way they have got behind the other players despite the disappointment has impressed me even more.

“They have really put their hands up.”

He then went on to say Lewis had to fix a few things up to get his first England call up:

“Yeah, if they keep going the way they are going and Mikey fixes up what he needs to fix he will certainly get a chance.”

Hull KR boss Willie Peters has now responded to these comments.

He said:

“As a coach I’ve got my ideas and we’re definitely on the same page but what Shaun was talking to Mikey about, he’s not far away.

“I read obviously the articles around how it was one of the hardest decisions he’d made and also the feedback I got from Mikey so there’s no doubt the conversation will have been difficult.

“All players want from coaches, it doesn’t matter what level, is feedback and what they need to work on so now Mikey knows what he does need to work on to get into that England team.

“The best part is that it’s in line with what we think and what we want him to do. Sometimes when players go to rep footy there’s different ways and different structures and opinions, that can hinder how they play at club level but that’s certainly not the case.

“The feedback that Waney has given him is in line with what we want and where we want to see Mikey improve, and he is improving in a lot of areas of his game.”