Hardaker unsure of Bennett’s England plans

Zak Hardaker believes England do not need an influx of overseas stars to be successful.

Reports have been rife over recent months surrounding Wayne Bennett’s plans to draft in overseas players to the England squad, with the Morris brothers, Blake Austin and Trent Hodgkinson just four players rumoured to be considering an offer to represent England.

However, the reigning Man of Steel believes that the new England chief should put faith in homegrown players, bringing up the recent Test series success against New Zealand as proof that they can compete with the best.

“We’re definitely good enough so why not pick us?” Hardaker told NRL360.

“It’s a touchy subject at the moment. In Super League we’ve got some terrific players. It’s a great competition.

“When we’ve got English guys living in England, playing in the Super League, week in, week out, it’s a bit difficult to probably go elsewhere when someone’s probably Australian and the dad or granddad is a different nationality.

“It’s up to England at the end of the day but I’d go for English players who were probably born in England and play in the Super League.

“We showed last year against New Zealand, I know they had a few injuries themselves but, we had a really good victory in the Test series.”