JAKE CONNOR may be leading the Man of Steel and Albert Goldthorpe Medal rankings, but he is almost certain to be excluded when England coach Shaun Wane names his 32-man provisional squad to face Australia in the Ashes series that begins at Wembley on 25th October.
Connor is the latest in a line of naturally talented players who have shone in domestic competitions but who have struggled to gain selection for the national team.
I’m thinking of players like Tommy Martyn, Lee Briers, Danny Brough and Marc Sneyd, who never found favour with coaches of the national team.
Connor certainly isn’t a flawless player and in the past he has had some temperamental issues that seem to have almost disappeared under Leeds coach Brad Arthur.
It’s hard to believe that if we are considering the best 32 England-based players who qualify for the national team, that he shouldn’t be included in that list, even if he doesn’t make the final selection.
Connor provided the assist for three of Leeds’ eight tries against Leigh on Friday night and I’m delighted to think that there are 32 English players in Super League who are better than him.
Another player who apparently won’t appear in the list is Dean Hadley of Hull KR.
Dean has played a key role in Hull KR’s rise in recent years and it’s hard for me to think of a backrower in Super League whose form is better than his.
Selecting a squad is clearly a difficult test in which fine judgements have to be made, but I’m surprised that Dean doesn’t apparently satisfy the criteria for selection.
Having said that, it will be interesting to see how many other Hull KR players make the cut, given their outstanding form this season.
Mikey Lewis, Jez Litten, Tom Davies, Joe Burgess, Jack Broadbent, James Batchelor and Elliot Minchella must all be in with a great chance, and it will be interesting to see whether Michael McIlorum, at the age of 37, is included, given that Shaun has always been a great admirer of the Robins’ combative hooker since his days at Wigan.
At the other end of the experience scale, it looks likely that St Helens’ youngster Harry Robertson will be named in the 32.
And after watching him tackle Ryan Hall into touch by the corner flag just over a week ago, I’m not too surprised by Harry’s selection in the squad, if that turns out to be true.
That was surely one of the best cover tackles I’ve seen in a long time – not dissimilar to the cover tackle Jai Field pulled off against Taylan May in the 2023 World Club Challenge clash between Wigan and Penrith.
If there is a difference, it’s that Ryan is built like a tank and for a smaller player like Harry, helped by Owen Dagnall, to turn him over and push him into touch was a remarkable piece of play.
I rather doubt that he will make the final cut to actually play agains the Aussies, but it’s good to see his ability being recognised.
Who should qualify for England?
IN recent months I’ve been besieged by emails telling me about the British and Irish Lions’ tour to Australia. Their PR system works well.
The tour began in Perth on Saturday but I’ve been fascinated to read the reaction to the fact that nine of the 38 players selected for the Lions qualify to play for them through either ancestry or residential qualification.
In Saturday’s opening match of the tour, against the Western Force, the match announcer took the mickey out of the Lions when introducing players who originated from the southern hemisphere.
The descriptions included: “The Aussie at No 14, Mack Hansen;” “Another Aussie at No 12, Sione Tuipulotu;” “The Kiwi now Irishman, James Lowe; ”At prop, the former SA schoolboy now Scotsman, Pierre Schoeman.”
The famous former Australian international David Campese called the squad the “British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions” ahead of the Western Force game, while there has also been criticism from within Britain and Ireland, with former Lions captain Willie John McBride adding his concerns about the selection of the squad.
But the fact that so many players were born in countries outside the British Isles doesn’t seem to worry most rugby union fans, as far as I can see.
As far as the England or Great Britain Rugby League teams are concerned, there are very few instances of players being selected on residential or ancestry grounds.
The South African David Barends played for Great Britain on the 1979 Ashes tour and remains, as far as I’m aware, the only South African to have played for Great Britain or England.
The Samoan Maurie Fa’asavalu was a more recent example, qualifying by residence to represent Great Britain in 2007 against New Zealand and then being selected for England in the 2008 World Cup in Australia.
Later examples include Shontayne Hape, who was selected for England while playing for Bradford Bulls and who later switched codes and was selected for England at rugby union.
There was Chris Heighington, who was born in Australia to an English father and who played for England from 2011 to 2017. He was, as far as I’m aware, the only player not born in England to be selected internationally without ever having played in England.
And there was Jackson Hastings, who was also selected on heritage grounds and played for Great Britain on the disappointing 2019 tour.
So we probably aren’t expecting any similar examples to those when Shaun Wane names his preliminary squad, although I imagine that Shaun might have inquired of Bevan French whether he would be interested in qualifying after five years’ residence.
The return of Nigel Wood
WHEN Nigel Wood resigned as the chief executive of the RFL in January 2018, I suspect that few people, including himself, would have anticipated him making a comeback seven years later.
Last week he became the Chairman of the game’s commercial arm, RL Commercial, and on 15 July I would be surprised if he isn’t announced as the Chairman of the RFL.
Wood is currently heading a strategic review of Rugby League in this country, which is a complicated process, but its main purpose appears to be the desire to create a structure for the game that will attract outside investment.
I hope that will mean that the clubs lose their right to block much-needed reforms and that the focus will be on making the competitions more valuable while encouraging more pathways for young people to play the game.
It’s fair to say that Wood’s return has not met with widespread support from Rugby League fans. But when you are struggling financially you need a financial expert to get you out of trouble.
Wood’s problem is that he never promoted his own achievements at the RFL, which I think he now recognises.
And it’s important for everyone involved in the game that he succeeds in his new role.