BRIAN McDERMOTT declared his willingness to pick heritage players when he was appointed to the England job in April – and proof of that has come in his first squad.
The former Leeds Rhinos coach has his eyes on this autumn’s World Cup with an ‘England performance programme’ containing 38 players, including four fresh names born in the southern hemisphere.
Wakefield Trinity’s New Zealand-born prop Caleb Hamlin-Uele has been selected alongside a trio of New South Welshmen currently plying their trade in the NRL.
They are Canberra Raiders hooker Jayden Brailey, Sydney Roosters centre Billy Smith and Brisbane Broncos prop Ben Talty.
Brailey, 27, has more than 160 NRL games under his belt, having also played for Cronulla Sharks and Newcastle Knights.
Smith, 26, has an NRL strike rate of 19 tries in 51 games following an injury-disrupted start to his career.
Talty, 27, only made his first-grade debut last season but finished the campaign an NRL winner and appeared in February’s World Club Challenge loss to Hull KR.
With Roosters forward Victor Radley and Gold Coast Titans playmaker AJ Brimson still involved, that makes six players born down under.
McDermott has also selected Max King, the 29-year-old Canterbury Bulldogs prop who was born in Huddersfield, moved to Australia aged seven and played every match of last year’s State of Origin for New South Wales.
The biggest contingent of Super League players comes from Challenge Cup winners Wigan Warriors, whose eight include the uncapped pair of forward Sam Walters and winger Zach Eckersley.
There are also nods for Wakefield halfback Jake Trueman, an unused player in Great Britain’s 2019 tour to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, plus Hull KR backrower Dean Hadley and St Helens centre Harry Robertson.
The clubs currently sitting in the top six all have players selected, but the bottom eight, including seventh-placed Leigh Leopards, have no players in the squad at all.
McDermott, who is an assistant coach at Gold Coast Titans, said: “I’ve enjoyed the process of looking throughout Super League and the NRL for players who could potentially play for England in the 2026 World Cup.
“It is clear there is a raft of talent available at our disposal and it’s encouraging to see the sort of player who could be lining up for us in a few months’ time.
“As well as plenty of seasoned Test players who we all know about, there are some new faces on the international scene, including Jake Trueman, Dean Hadley and Zach Eckersley.
“They have all earned places on the programme for their consistent excellence in Super League.
“Caleb Hamlin-Uele, who was born in Auckland but qualifies for England through heritage, is another who ticks that box.
“From the NRL, there’s further players who I have seen first-hand who are performing well and who have expressed a desire to represent England via the heritage rule: Max King, Jayden Brailey, Billy Smith and Ben Talty.
“Obviously, this is still just the first group of players we’ve selected: there is still plenty of opportunity for others to play their way into contention before the World Cup squad is announced.”
Jake Connor is back in the England fold for the first time since 2018, having been ignored under McDermott’s predecessor Shaun Wane, despite winning last season’s Man of Steel award.
Notable omissions from the squad include Leeds centre Harry Newman, Hull KR winger Joe Burgess, Leigh Leopards prop Owen Trout and North Queensland Cowboys backrower John Bateman, all of whom were part of the squad that suffered an Ashes whitewash at the hands of Australia last autumn.
Captain George Williams features despite being in a race to be fit for the World Cup due to a serious neck injury.
St Helens prop Matty Lees is not named, as a knee injury is expected to rule him out of the tournament.
England’s World Cup campaign starts against Tonga in Perth on October 17, with fixtures to follow against France (October 24, also Perth) and Papua New Guinea (October 30 in Wollongong).
England performance programme group: Matty Ashton (Warrington Wolves), Jayden Brailey (Canberra Raiders), AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans), Daryl Clark (St Helens), Jake Connor (Leeds Rhinos), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Zach Eckersley (Wigan Warriors), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Dean Hadley (Hull KR), Caleb Hamlin-Uele (Wakefield Trinity), Ash Handley (Leeds Rhinos), Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors), Tom Johnstone (Wakefield Trinity), Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs), Morgan Knowles (Dolphins), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Jez Litten (Hull KR), Mike McMeeken (Wakefield Trinity), Junior Nsemba (Wigan Warriors), Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos), Brad O’Neill (Wigan Warriors), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wests Tigers), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Harry Robertson (St Helens), Billy Smith (Sydney Roosters), Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders), Ben Talty (Brisbane Broncos), Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors), Jake Trueman (Wakefield Trinity), Danny Walker (Warrington Wolves), Alex Walmsley (St Helens), Sam Walters (Wigan Warriors), Jake Wardle (Wigan Warriors), Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Dom Young (Newcastle Knights).