US still in NRL sights
ENGLAND insist their comfortable win against New Zealand in Denver earlier this year means nothing and are prepared to face a Kiwi side brimming with belief ahead of the first Test at Hull tomorrow.
Wayne Bennett’s side eased to a 36- 18 win last June in Michael Maguire’s first match in charge of the Kiwis.
But fresh from an impressive 26- 24 win over world champions Australia in Auckland earlier this month, Maguire’s side will run out at the KC Stadium confident of getting the three- match series off to a winning start.
“They looked fantastic in that performance ( against Australia) and we’ll have to raise to that,” said England fullback Jonny Lomax.
England nemesis Shaun Johnson sat out the Denver Test due to injury but takes his place in the line- up. THE NRL is still working towards the prospect of opening the 2020 season in the United States.
Efforts to open 2019 with a so- called “round- zero” fixture fell short and the games were non- existent in the NRL draw.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg labelled the fixture to be too much of a financial risk for 2019, but further works are being undertaken to ensure the first premiership game played in the US doesn’t just become a pipe dream.
“We got really close to it in this draw but in simple terms we couldn’t make the numbers stack up,” Greenberg said.