5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:18 am  

Five Wigan Warriors players have been named in Shaun Wane’s first England training squad of 2022 – a year which includes a mid-season international against the Combined Nations All Stars in June and culminates with the Rugby League World Cup (RWLC2021) in the Autumn. John Bateman, Liam Farrell, Zak Hardaker, Liam Marshall and Kai Pearce-Paul have all been included. It is a first senior call-up for Marshall and Pearce-Paul, while Bateman, Farrell and Hardaker are all named again following their involvement in last year’s international match against France. The five Wigan players will link-up with 25 other Betfred Super League players at Leeds’ Headingley Stadium on Tuesday 15th March. Headingley will be the first in a series of monthly sessions with players throughout 2022, as England build towards the postponed RLWC2021. Wane will factor in form and fitness when inviting players to future sessions. NRL players are not available for either the training sessions or the mid-season international. https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/03/ ... and-squad/ England Head Coach, Wane, says: “It’s a massive year for us, a great opportunity that we must be well prepared for. “We’ve looked at a number of things in putting this training squad together – form last year, performances in the All Stars and France games, pre-season training and discussions around up and coming young players. “The players included for this first session need to look like England players and train like England players. We want something extra from them at this level. “The younger players coming through are a real credit to Paul Anderson and Paul Sculthorpe on the performance pathway, club coaches and junior coaches too. To me it doesn’t matter whether you’re 17 or 37, if I think you can help us win a World Cup you’ll be in the squad. “I’ve spoken to a lot of players and the ones not included at this stage know that they can still force their way in. It’s an open book and I see some of them coming back in later in the year.” Training squad in full: John Bateman (Wigan Warriors), Daryl Clark (Warrington Wolves), Mike Cooper (Warrington Wolves), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Tom Davies (Catalans Dragons), Lewis Dodd (St Helens), Niall Evalds (Castleford Tigers), Liam Farrell (Wigan Warriors), Ryan Hall (Hull KR), Zak Hardaker (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Kruise Leeming (Leeds Rhinos), Matthew Lees (St Helens), Jonny Lomax (St Helens), Reece Lyne (Wakefield Trinity), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants), Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers), Tommy Makinson (St Helens), Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors), Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos), Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wigan Warriors), Mark Percival (St Helens), Stefan Ratchford (Warrington Wolves), Dan Sarginson (Salford Red Devils) , Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons), Alex Walmsley (St Helens), Jake Wardle (Huddersfield Giants), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves). Further England training sessions will take place in April, May, July and August. Details of June’s mid-season international versus the Combined Nations All Stars will be announced on Friday 4th March. England play Fiji in a World Cup warm-up match at Rochdale on Friday 7th October. RLWC2021 begins on Saturday 15th October, with England versus Samoa at St James’s Park, Newcastle. Glad to see KPP get his reward for his effort.

Five Wigan Warriors players have been named in Shaun Wane’s first England training squad of 2022 – a year which includes a mid-season international against the Combined Nations All Stars in June and culminates with the Rugby League World Cup (RWLC2021) in the Autumn. John Bateman, Liam Farrell, Zak Hardaker, Liam Marshall and Kai Pearce-Paul have all been included. It is a first senior call-up for Marshall and Pearce-Paul, while Bateman, Farrell and Hardaker are all named again following their involvement in last year’s international match against France. The five Wigan players will link-up with 25 other Betfred Super League players at Leeds’ Headingley Stadium on Tuesday 15th March. Headingley will be the first in a series of monthly sessions with players throughout 2022, as England build towards the postponed RLWC2021. Wane will factor in form and fitness when inviting players to future sessions. NRL players are not available for either the training sessions or the mid-season international. https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2022/03/ ... and-squad/ England Head Coach, Wane, says: “It’s a massive year for us, a great opportunity that we must be well prepared for. “We’ve looked at a number of things in putting this training squad together – form last year, performances in the All Stars and France games, pre-season training and discussions around up and coming young players. “The players included for this first session need to look like England players and train like England players. We want something extra from them at this level. “The younger players coming through are a real credit to Paul Anderson and Paul Sculthorpe on the performance pathway, club coaches and junior coaches too. To me it doesn’t matter whether you’re 17 or 37, if I think you can help us win a World Cup you’ll be in the squad. “I’ve spoken to a lot of players and the ones not included at this stage know that they can still force their way in. It’s an open book and I see some of them coming back in later in the year.” Training squad in full: John Bateman (Wigan Warriors), Daryl Clark (Warrington Wolves), Mike Cooper (Warrington Wolves), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Tom Davies (Catalans Dragons), Lewis Dodd (St Helens), Niall Evalds (Castleford Tigers), Liam Farrell (Wigan Warriors), Ryan Hall (Hull KR), Zak Hardaker (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Kruise Leeming (Leeds Rhinos), Matthew Lees (St Helens), Jonny Lomax (St Helens), Reece Lyne (Wakefield Trinity), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants), Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers), Tommy Makinson (St Helens), Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors), Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos), Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wigan Warriors), Mark Percival (St Helens), Stefan Ratchford (Warrington Wolves), Dan Sarginson (Salford Red Devils) , Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons), Alex Walmsley (St Helens), Jake Wardle (Huddersfield Giants), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves). Further England training sessions will take place in April, May, July and August. Details of June’s mid-season international versus the Combined Nations All Stars will be announced on Friday 4th March. England play Fiji in a World Cup warm-up match at Rochdale on Friday 7th October. RLWC2021 begins on Saturday 15th October, with England versus Samoa at St James’s Park, Newcastle. Glad to see KPP get his reward for his effort.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:35 am  

Great to hear. It’s especially pleasing for the new guys in Marshall and KPP. I’m not sure KPP is ready yet but it’ll be a great experience to train with this squad and it should give him huge confidence and one day he absolutely will be ready. I’m probably most pleased for Marshall. Don’t get me wrong, I doubt he’ll make the final cut but he’s worked his backside off to improve his game and it’s a nice reward.

No Tom Johnstone is surprising but maybe down to his injury issues and because Wane just wants to see how he goes for a few more months. Jake Connor still not in and I see loads of Hull fans kicking off on social media but I just don’t think Wane likes his character and fears the other players don’t either. You can’t just pick on talent if it’s going to disrupt the squad.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:40 am  

Made up for Marshall as well, just extra cudos for KPP to break through in such a short space of time.

My worry for Marshall is his size, not sure how it would stack up, especially against the Aussies, he is good and hard in defence but in the air I can see him being bullied, as you say they may not make the final cut but it is good to see players get rewarded for effort, rather than being picked on name alone

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:52 am  

Also answers Stu's concerns from an earlier thread as to whether Wane would pick Saints players. Everyone who could reasonably be picked has been.

Happy for KPP and Marshy. Both show the right attitude towards their game so it's a deserved reward for that. I understand people saying it's probably early for KPP to make the actual side but I'm not so sure. If he gets a full season under his belt, he offers something no one else does. I think he could be a bolter.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:57 am  

I think the inclusion of KPP follows the same approach that football and RU take i.e naming a 'future star' within the group to help them understand what an international setup involves.

Smart move & one that benefits Wigan too.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:19 pm  

Hopefully it will spur the likes of KPP and Marshall on to keep performing like they have, for the rest of the season, always good to dangle a carrot or two

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:43 pm  

No surprise with KPP, think he’s one of Wigan’s best players already and only going to get better throughout this year.

Marshall has surprised me, not been blown away by his form this year or last year but Wanes obviously thinks different, must be doing a lot of little things right than may go unnoticed.

Marshall won’t make the final squad IMO, think KPP has a chance though.

Also hope Connor makes it.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:48 pm  

NSW wrote:

No surprise with KPP, think he’s one of Wigan’s best players already and only going to get better throughout this year.

Marshall has surprised me, not been blown away by his form this year or last year but Wanes obviously thinks different, must be doing a lot of little things right than may go unnoticed.

Marshall won’t make the final squad IMO, think KPP has a chance though.

Also hope Connor makes it.

Connor won’t be anywhere near the squad whilst Wane is in charge unless he changed his attitude significantly to defence and team play.

Think Marshall has had a great start to the year and earned his spot. It’s Hardaker I’m suprised with.

Having said all that it’s a bit of a pointless squad. Lots of names will change prior to the final squad and that is without considering the NRL lads.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 4:06 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Jake Connor still not in and I see loads of Hull fans kicking off on social media but I just don’t think Wane likes his character and fears the other players don’t either. You can’t just pick on talent if it’s going to disrupt the squad.

Watching The Superleague Show last night, say what you like about him, but when he sticks to playing rugby, he's a very talented guy.

Re: 5 Warriors in England Squad : Tue Mar 01, 2022 5:30 pm  

moto748 wrote:

Watching The Superleague Show last night, say what you like about him, but when he sticks to playing rugby, he's a very talented guy.

Incredible. He is a freak, he really is and has skills to match many players through the history of this game but even in those highlights you see him scoring and mouthing off at opposition players, getting in to scraps, throwing the ball at people and in the past he’s got in to arguments with his own teammates. I can absolutely see why Wane wouldn’t trust him but maybe he can turn than around.