We can’t wait to start – Bennett
ENGLAND head coach Wayne Bennett says players have needed to “raise their game” in 2017 in order to secure places in his World Cup squad.
He named his 24-man party yesterday for the tournament, which starts against the holders Australia in Melbourne on Friday October 27.
There are few surprises, Bennett largely sticking with the bulk of the squad that failed to make the Four Nations final last season.
However, there is the welcome return of in-form St Helens hooker James Roby while his uncapped club colleague Alex Walmsley, the Dewsbury-born prop who flew to Sydney for the mid-season Test against Samoa but never featured, is also included.
The only other uncapped player is Warrington Wolves second-row Ben Currie. His is, perhaps, a shock selection given he has missed much of the season through injury for a club that ended up in the Qualifiers and is preferred to Leeds Rhinos’ excellent Stevie Ward.
Indeed, Warrington – who finished ninth – have four players in Bennett’s squad, the same as champions Leeds and beaten Grand Finalists Castleford Tigers combined.
Castleford full-back Zak Hardaker was, of course, expected to feature, but was overlooked after details were confirmed yesterday of him failing a drugs test.
Despite that, there is still no place for Wigan No 1 Sam Tomkins, the world’s most expensive player who has not represented England since 2014, with Bennett staying loyal to St Helens’ Jonny Lomax, one of the few players to emerge with credit from last season’s Four Nations.
He has also remained faithful to Warrington’s Stefan Ratchford, who played at full-back against Samoa after coming in at late notice and has versatility value being able to play centre and halfback, too.
Undoubtedly, the choice of Cronulla Sharks’ 35-year-old Australian second-row Chris Heighington – who qualifies via his Durham-born father – will infuriate many, particularly fans of Wigan’s Liam Farrell, who is left out.
Brisbane Broncos chief Bennett sought the advice of all his English-based assistants – Denis Betts, Paul Anderson, Paul Sculthorpe and Paul Wellens – before settling on his final pick.
“Selecting the final 24 with the help of my coaching staff was tough and that was down to the effort and performances of many players throughout the season,” he said.
“The competitiveness of Super League and NRL and knowing the goal of playing for your country in a World Cup has made many raise their game and become better athletes.
“The England programme has been very active leading into this tournament and having the squad meet up on regular occasions – on and off the field – has put us in a positive place before everyone gets into camp.
“We had to put the disappointment of the Four Nations behind us quickly and the meetings that followed that tournament set out what was required to be successful in the World Cup. Everyone has fully bought into this and we can’t wait to get started.”
Arguably the biggest omission from last season’s Four Nations squad is George Burgess, the South Sydney prop who has missed out due to the inclusion of Walmsley, who made more metres than any other player in Super League this term.
Ex-Castleford hooker and 2014 Man of Steel Daryl Clark is also overlooked along with Warrington team-mate Mike Cooper while Leeds’s injury-hit Brett Ferres, Wigan’s Farrell and Gold Coast Titans centre Dan Sarginson are the others from last year who have now missed out.
Castleford winger Greg Eden – who scored 41 tries this term – and his captain and centre Michael Shenton are certainly unfortunate to be left at home.
However, in Eden’s case, Bennett has once more selected just two specialist wingers: the tried and tested Ryan Hall, from Leeds, and Huddersfield Giants’ Jermaine McGillvary.
Similarly, the 67-year-old seems happy with only a couple of specialist centres in Leeds’s Kallum Watkins and St Helens’ Mark Percival.
After seeing the strength of squads such as Tonga, who have attracted Kiwi star Jason Taumalolo and Australia prop Andrew Fifita, Bennett added: “This is shaping up to be a very competitive tournament.
“Squads are being confirmed now and it’s clear to see the spread of talent will add to some exciting games.”
Meanwhile, Wales coach John Kear says he will not be selecting Ward in his World Cup squad despite the England elite training squad member qualifying through his Wrexham-born mother.
He said: “Stevie intimated to us that he would play for us if not selected by England. That obviously has happened, but, after his shoulder injury, we have all agreed that for his long-term fitness it is best he does not feature.
“We’d like to thank him, though, and wish him well.”
It’s clear to see the spread of talent will add to some exciting games. Wayne Bennett, who believes the World Cup is ‘shaping up to be a very competitive tournament’.
REFLECTIVE Luke Gale realises he has to get over his Grand Final disappointment quickly if he is to make the most of a World Cup chance with England.
As expected, the Man of Steel was yesterday named in Wayne Bennett’s squad for the tournament that starts against Australia in Melbourne on October 27.
Scrum-half Gale is hoping to get the nod at No 7 following his excellent campaign with Castleford Tigers.
However, that ended in painful circumstances when Daryl Powell’s side – who raced to a maiden League Leaders’ Shield in impressive style – suffered a woeful 24-6 Grand Final defeat against Leeds Rhinos on Saturday night.
It was the West Yorkshire club’s first experience of the Old Trafford showpiece, but one they will want to forget in a hurry after a mistake-ridden display ruined any hopes of becoming champions for the first time.
Asked how hard it would be to lift himself for England duty, Gale said: “I have to lift myself for England.
“I have to dust this one down and, all being well, get picked. We fly off Thursday.
“We (Castleford) saved our worst for the biggest occasion. It was a real disappointing performance from one to 17.
“I’ve never played in a game where our team have made that many errors. It’s a hard one to take on a stage like this and playing nothing like we have all year.
“There was so many errors; you couldn’t win an amateur game with that many errors.
“We didn’t see it coming. To be fair to Leeds, they played well; they handled the occasion better than us.
“They had a few errors too, but our errors put us under pressure. It was just a disappointing night.”
Gale, 29, joined his club-mates for their traditional Mad Monday outing in Dublin yesterday, but will be back in Manchester today to link up with the international squad as they prepare to depart for Australia.
Surprisingly, only second-row Mike McMeeken from Castleford joins him on that plane.
Tigers had five English players in the Super League Dream Team, but while Gale and McMeeken secure their national places, both captain Michael Shenton and the competition’s top try-scorer Greg Eden have missed the cut in Bennett’s 24-man squad.
A third player – Zak Hardaker – was a shoo-in, but the RFL would not consider him for selection after details emerged last week that the England full-back had failed a drugs test.
Castleford were informed of that news barely 48 hours before their Grand Final date and duly dropped the in-form 25-year-old, who was runner-up to Gale in the voting for Man of Steel.
It caused havoc with their plans given Hardaker had been such an integral part of their side all season although Gale refused to use the late upheaval as an excuse for their pitiful display.
“We’ve not really spoken about it to be honest,” he said, when asked how disruptive the whole episode was.
“That’s been dealt with. It’s not ideal to lose your full-back of that magnitude, but it is what it is and I can’t really comment.”
Many had envisaged Gale, centre Shenton, Hardaker and perhaps even Eden replicating their left-edge combination for England, but the scrum-half will be going it alone now.
Gale fared well during the midseason 30-10 win against Samoa in Sydney alongside Kevin Brown so he is in possession of the jersey.
However, rival halves Gareth Widdop and George Williams were both injured then and are now fit again ahead of the World Cup so competition is stiff.
Gale made his Test debut in France 12 months ago and played all the games in last season’s Four Nations before being left-out for the crucial last fixture against Australia, something he will hope isn’t repeated in Melbourne.
His kicking game has been stellar this term although he struggled on Saturday.
The former Bradford Bulls star insisted: “We didn’t get to the fifth and last. They probably doubled our (number of) kicks and put our wingers and full-back under a lot of pressure that we didn’t handle too well. We said we couldn’t have played much worse in the first half and we were only 7-0 down. Yet we came back out in the second half and played even worse. It’s tough to take.
“I wouldn’t have minded being beat, but being beaten like that is massively disappointing.
“We’ve never knocked on that much all season so I’d say maybe you can put it down to the occasion. Leeds certainly handled it better than us.”