ENGLAND will not have any training time during next season because the RFL do not see the value in it.
National coach Shaun Wane shared his frustration at preparations for the autumn’s Ashes series, which England lost 3-0 to Australia.
Not only did England have no mid-season international, but Wane could not hold a single training session while the domestic campaign was running.
A handful of ‘off-feet meetings’ were the only get-together with a squad of players, and things look set to remain the same ahead of next autumn’s World Cup in Australia.
Last month, Wane said: “We won’t get together until the start of the World Cup next year and we are expected to do something.
“That is a fact, I’m not just moaning about this. If they want us to get better and improve then something has to change.”
But RFL interim chief executive Abi Ekoku, who served as Great Britain team manager between 2006 and 2007, disputed that claim.
Ekoku said: Shaun is a fantastic coach and he’s been a very successful Super League coach, but what can he impart in the middle of a season?
“Getting the players together for camaraderie is great, but to run a physical training programme mid-season… when Shaun was head coach of Wigan, I’m not sure he would have been supportive of that.”
Ekoku also claimed that internationals during the season were of little value as long as England cannot call up their NRL-based players and no top-tier opposition is available.
“I’m a realist, I just don’t think it’s worth pandering after something that’s never going to be delivered because it takes two parties,” he said.
“The NRL will never release their players at any other time of the year. We may want it, but it won’t be a reality.”
Wane’s position as head coach came under significant scrutiny after England’s home whitewash to the Kangaroos.
He is under contract until after the World Cup, but interim RFL chair Nigel Wood told the BBC following the Ashes series that his performance would be reviewed.
Ekoku added: “At the end of each series there is a performance evaluation and it would be disrespectful to everybody involved in that process not to get their feedback, which comes from Shaun as well.
“Once that is all in, the decision (on Wane’s future) will be made.
“There will be no prevarication over it. It’s international sport, which means you are judged at the highest levels. There shouldn’t be any hesitation.
“There’s a World Cup next year, so you want certainty in decision-making so planning can be done.”