Former England stalwarts James Graham and Josh Hodgson have urged Shaun Wane’s squad to ‘rattle’ Australia in this weekend’s opening Ashes Test and get themselves on the front foot from the off.

Graham and Hodgson made more than 60 combined appearances in an England shirt, including 18 alongside one another.

Forming part of the England squad which reached the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final only to lose 6-0 to the Kangaroos, the pair also lined up together for Great Britain in 2019.

Both spent a large chunk of their career over in the NRL, and have delivered their take on what the game plan should be heading into Saturday’s opener at Wembley.

‘We’ve got to go completely all-in from the get-go and look to rattle Australia from the beginning, then ride that out’

Neither got the chance to represent their country in an Ashes Series, and have urged the current crop of England stars to grab the opportunity which lies in front of them by the scruff of the neck.

Appearing on Graham’s The Bye Round’ podcast, Hodgson said: “I think the big thing for England is that the first game is going to be huge.

“I think if we can get them off the jump, we’ve got a really good chance. At Wembley, I think there’s 50/60,000 tickets sold already for that one, and the other two (Tests) have sold out.

“If we can get them off the jump when they’re maybe not ready for us, then you’re going into the next two games one-nil up and it’s a lot (to come back from).”

Graham will form part of the BBC’s coverage of this autumn’s three-Test series. He responded: “Obviously, in any Test Series, the first game is absolutely vital.

“But I think, with something like State of Origin, there’s a lot more time. Australia haven’t had that much time together. They’ll still be working on combinations, as will the English side, but I think the motivation for England is we’ve got to go completely all-in from the get-go and look to rattle Australia from the beginning, then ride that out.

“I think back to a conversation I had with Luke Ricketson and Brett Kimmorley about the 2003 Ashes where Australia beat Great Britain in the last five to ten minutes.

“They didn’t win a game by more than six points, but all of those were come-from-behind victories that came down to the last ten minutes. So, what can England learn from that?

“I think back how far the English team has come, that semi-final against Tonga (at the 2017 World Cup), that came down to the last ten minutes… we were backs against the wall and that’s the standard of football that this English team can expect.”

‘Just stick to the game plan’

Hodgson donned a shirt for both Hull KR and Hull FC in Super League as well as Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels in the NRL.

His England appearances came between 2014 and 2018, and having had to miss the 2017 World Cup final against the Kangaroos through injury, Hodgson added: “I think when you’re in front, and a lot of teams do it, you go into that self-preservation mode.

“That doesn’t mean you go away from the game plan, and that doesn’t mean you want to still keep throwing loads of shape for the sake of it.

“But, if your game plan has worked, just stick to it, but just don’t throw the risky 50/50s.

“If we get ahead, we don’t want to start going one out and just kick to corners… just stick to the game plan.”