Owen Trout believes England have what it takes to go all the way and win the Rugby League World Cup this year, regardless of who is in charge.
Last month, England saw former head coach Shaun Wane step down from the role after close to five years at the helm.
Wane’s replacement is yet to be officially confirmed, and with just over 250 days now until the national team’s first game at the World Cup on October 17, the race is on.
But Trout, who made his England bow during last autumn’s Ashes Series against Australia, insists he and the group of players will remain confident they can achieve something great at the tournament: no matter who the Rugby Football League (RFL) appoint.
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‘With the calibre of players we’ve got in an England shirt, it doesn’t really matter who the coach is, because it’s player-led’
Leigh Leopards star Trout played in the opening Test of the Ashes against the Kangaroos at Wembley, and then watched on as his team-mates suffered defeats at the Hill Dickinson Stadium and Headingley to lose the series 3-0 on home soil.
But having been around the squad for three weeks, he insists the best is still to come, with a mix of Super League and NRL stars ready to prove their worth in a World Cup taking place Down Under across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Speaking to LoveRugbyLeague during the Leopards’ pre-season media day, the versatile forward said: “Whoever is chosen (as the new England head coach), it’s going to be a good appointment.
“With the calibre of players we’ve got in an England shirt, it doesn’t really matter who the coach is, because it’s player-led.
“It needs to be done sooner rather than later so we can start building for that World Cup, which should be a big aim for us.
“With the people that can put on a shirt coming into this World Cup, I feel like we can do some real damage.”
Like many of his international colleagues, Trout is currently preparing for the start of the 2026 Super League campaign, which comes next weekend.
Off-contract, this may be his last season as a Leigh player, and indeed in Super League, with plenty of NRL interest in him for 2027.
On England’s World Cup ambitions, he continued: “As an Englishman in the Ashes Series, I knew what type of players we had and I back us over anyone, even now.
“Going into that World Cup, we want to set our stall out early and then build from that.
“In that last game (of the Ashes against Australia) at Headingley, I feel like we put a lot of wrongs right, and hopefully that’s another stepping stone to build into a good World Cup run.”