Winging it: Wayne’s world has become a farce

Outrage erupted when Wayne Bennett only named two wingers in his Great Britain squad, and left people like Grand Final winner Regan Grace at home, much to the bemusement of rugby league fans.

After an injury to an already out-of-sorts Ryan Hall, who had only played a hand-full of games for NRL premieres Sydney Roosters this year anyway, surely the sensible thing to do would have been to call up another specialist winger? But not according to GB’s veteran Aussie coach. First, he floated the idea of moving Zak Hardaker from centre, before injury also claimed the Wigan fullback.

In response to that the coaching maestro Bennett decided to call on Warrington halfback Blake Austin on the wing against a confident, well-drilled New Zealand. To say the gamble didn’t work is probably the understatement of the year.

As this GB tour descended into the farcical, just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it suddenly did.

Step up Leeds Rhinos WINGER Ash Handley. An actual winger who was a regular source of tries for a struggling Rhinos team this year, fly him 12,000 miles to the other side of the world, then tell him he’s basically on a short holiday, and that he’s not needed, because the Australian coach has decided to pick Australian born halfback Austin on the wing again, despite his abject failure in the position against New Zealand, for a game full of trepidation against a very enthusiastic Papua New Guinea.

In the first game of this tour Great Britain were expected to beat Tonga, we thought it would be a struggle, but ultimately the apparent best that the British Isles has to offer were expected to succeed. However, alarm bells were definitely ringing from the first 10 minutes and by the end of that game they were almost deafening as Tonga simply did Great Britain for sheer enthusiasm. There was no shortage of craft and brute strength from them, but enthusiasm was simply the biggest difference.

In the two games since, against a strong Kiwis side, Bennett has continued to experiment, playing players out of position, looking clueless in attack, and short on any enthusiasm that was originally felt when the return of the Lions was announced with the slogan ‘THE PRIDE IS BACK’.

But finally, in what has simply become a complete shambles of a tour, how on earth do you justify flying a specialist winger to the other side of the world, to sit him in the stand, and watch an Australian, playing out of position, be in his specialist position, on what is surely reputation alone?

Having stepped out of the shadow of Hall, Handley has proved himself a quality winger for the Rhinos this year, he was a regular source of tries, a real bright spot in a team that endured another nightmare struggle this season. Some will point to the fact that he played outside Konrad Hurrell for Leeds, but having said that, for GB he could have played outside Jake Connor who was a constant, damaging thorn in the Kiwis side just 12 months ago for England.

The fact of the matter is that Handley should have been picked even before now, the damage that Bennett has caused by snubbing him and Grace, both young British wingers, to name Austin, is that it sends out exactly the wrong message to young British players and it shows up our sport as something of a laughing stock.

I said a few weeks ago I had less of a problem with Austin playing for GB than a few others, due to his mother being English, this is not simply a rant about picking Australian imports, but the fact is that Austin is a halfback, not a winger, if Austin is to play for Great Britain, at least play him in the position that he is best known for playing, don’t experiment with a mercurial talent like him in what is an entirely alien position to him.

Even Leeds legend Kevin Sinfield has had to weigh into the argument stating: “Do you give somebody a shirt because he’s flown for 24 hours to get here, or give it to the best man for the job?”

Now I’m not too sure what Handley will think of these comments from one of his club hierarchy at Emerald Headingley, but it really just sums up the backwards thinking of the whole selection process.

“Remember when Wayne Bennett played Blake Austin on the wing for Great Britain?” You’ll probably overhear this in a pub or at a match in a few years time as someone recalls the farcical events of the last few weeks. Let’s hope for Bennett’s sake the Lions can beat Papua New Guinea otherwise he will be classed, certainly in my eyes, as the worst Great Britain coach of all time.