BENNETT AXES WOLVES PAIR

STEFAN RATCHFORD and Josh Charnley have been chopped from the Great Britain squad.

The two Warrington stars are the biggest casualties after coach Wayne Bennett announced a trimmed-down training group yesterday ahead of the tour Down Under at the end of the month.

Hull duo Scott Taylor and Jamie Shaul have also been left out, with Stevie Ward failing to make the cut as well. Ratchford, right, has made three England starts since his debut in 2017 but could not pin down a spot. Wolves winger Charnley has failed to clinch a return to the international set-up since his spell in rugby union with Sale Sharks.

He has lost out to Huddersfield’s Jermaine McGillvary and the Super League’s top tryscorer Tommy Makinson, who have been Bennett’s favoured wing partnership. Bennett will not announce his final 24-man Lions squad until October 14, two days after the Grand Final.

The 12 players he has named will train together but are not guaranteed to make the tour squad. It is the first Great Britain trip since 2006, with two fixtures against New Zealand, as well as Tonga and Papua New Guinea.

The dozen players will train with 16 from the England Knights, who face Jamaica at Headingley on October 20.

Bennett did not include any players from Salford, Wigan and St Helens, who are still in the play-offs.

Some of the Lions and Knights squad players will also represent England in the inaugural World Cup Nines in Sydney in October.