Whitehead admits Great Britain ‘did not turn up’ after failed tour
Elliott Whitehead accepted Great Britain’s tour had been a failure, before stressing the need for a mid-season Test ahead of England’s Ashes series against Australia next year.
Revived after 12 years in hibernation, the Lions crashed to a 28-10 defeat at the hands of Papua New Guinea on Saturday, completing a dismal 4-0 series whitewash.
It followed previous losses against a Tonga Invitational XIII and New Zealand, twice, and raised further questions over head coach Wayne Bennett’s future with the Rugby Football League.
Canberra second-rower Whitehead said: “It has been a disappointing tour all round and we didn’t turn up like we should have done. All the boys know we’ve let ourselves down. We’ll go away and, hopefully, we can come back next year and fix stuff up.”
It remains to be seen if Bennett will still be in charge of England next year, who host the 2021 World Cup 12 months later. But
Whitehead is adamant that they must be better prepared than Great Britain were and stressed the need for a mid-season Test after it did not happen this year. The former Bradford and Catalans forward added: “The NRL and Super League clubs need to invest and let players have time off.
“I feel we missed the mid-season Test this year and, hopefully, we can get it back next year. That will help us going into the Australia series at the end of the year.” Under-fire Bennett’s contract with the RFL has now expired and Ralph Rimmer, the chief executive, spoke last week about not making any decision on the Australian’s future until the completion of a review.
In a statement published in the wake of Saturday’s upset, the governing body said: “Like everyone on the tour, we are bitterly disappointed by the results of the Test matches – for those loyal supporters who have followed the team in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and for everyone backing the team from home. “A review of the tour will take place when the tour party returns and that timetable has not altered.”