ONE of the first jobs of the new RFL Board of Directors when it is given approval by the RFL Council next week will be to consider the appointment of Shaun Wane’s replacement as the England coach for this year’s World Cup.
One name that has been widely mentioned for the job is Hull KR coach Willie Peters, who has led his team to four major trophies in the last twelve months and who was an assistant to Australia coach Kevin Walters during last year’s Ashes series.
Despite not being English himself, Peters is the bookmakers’ favourite to get the job and if he is appointed he will have a strong supporter in a player who played a key role for England in the Ashes.
Jez Litten admits that he would like to see his club coach Peters get the England job.
“Obviously I know Willie as a coach – his knowledge, how much he loves the game, how deep he looks into things,” said Litten.
“I love playing under Willie and I think he would be good for the role because I know how obsessed he is with rugby and the time he takes to look at games, the way to break teams down. And the way he thinks about games is similar to me.”
Litten, who began his Super League career with Hull FC in 2017, celebrated his 28th birthday last week and last year he extended his current contract with the Robins to the end of 2029.
Despite that, his performances for both England last year and Hull KR in the World Club Challenge against Brisbane Broncos attracted admiring glances from NRL clubs. Would he be interested in playing in Australia?
“Obviously I’m happy at Hull KR but you can never write off playing in the NRL,” he responded.
“It’s the best league and you want to challenge yourself against the best.
“I got the opportunity to do it in the Ashes, which was like a dream, and then playing against Brisbane, with us getting the win.
“But my priority is Hull KR and continuing the success we have had here, driving up our standards and doing Hull KR proud.”
But does Litten think it’s possible to win all those four trophies again?
“It’s up to us – it’s ours to lose. If we have the right mindset we’ll give ourselves every chance.
“We want to be competing for every trophy and that’s what we’re aiming to do. But you have to strip it back to week to week and day by day of turning up and doing the work.
“It’s tough to win a treble or any trophy, but you’ve just got to work hard every day and winning trophies comes off the back of that.”