ENGLAND coach Shaun Wane said that the exclusion of Jake Connor from his Ashes squad “wasn’t really difficult”.

The Man of Steel was the headline absentee from the 24-man selection to take on Australia in the much-anticipated series.

Connor won Super League’s top individual award this year for his form at Leeds Rhinos, but Wane insists the halfback still needs to improve.

“He’s a very good player, Jake, no doubt about that,” said Wane.

“I spoke to him at the weekend and he’ll be available for the World Cup next year.

“When I’m picking the squad, you’ll never hear me say ‘he won the Man of Steel, he needs to be in’. I don’t know who picks the Man of Steel, I don’t know what goes into it. I don’t know who is in the Dream Team.

“Those things never come into my reckoning. I think ‘who can do a fantastic job against Australia?’

“There’s lots of other players other than Jake Connor who didn’t get in this 24. I don’t see the obsession. The Man of Steel doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Asked how Connor can earn a place in the World Cup side next autumn, Wane said: “Play really well consistently in every game he plays.

“You don’t see it (the game) the way I see it. I look at it very differently to how everybody else does.

“He knows he’s a really good player, but so are George Williams, Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis.

“Jake is up there, and for the World Cup he’ll be challenging all the halves.”

Wane also said that prop Luke Thompson was left out on form.

Thompson was perhaps the most surprising omission of all, having been among Super League’s top forwards since joining Wigan Warriors two years ago.

He missed two months of the season with a calf injury and Wane said: “He was close.

“His form earlier in the year was fantastic and I’m a big Luke Thompson fan.

“But he got injured, came back and he’s yet to get to those levels he had before.

“He wasn’t far off, he’s a great player. That was a tough (call) in particular. “