SATURDAY’S 30-8 defeat against Australia at Headingley will raise one question more than any other.

Should Shaun Wane coach England in the World Cup next year in Australia? 

And by extension, if not, who should?

Regardless of what we might think about England’s performances, there isn’t an obvious alternative candidate for the job.

Shaun is employed full-time by the RFL and, on the face of it, that seems very strange for a coach who only takes charge of a team for three matches – or potentially five in next year’s World Cup.

I’m not sure how much Shaun is paid for the job, but to have someone on a full-time contract in a role that requires the coaching of a team for so few matches looks like an expensive option.

I’m sure Shaun does many other things in his role as England coach but it’s hard to see how it equates to a full-time one.

Knowing that Nigel Wood is keen to trim the RFL’s expenditure, I could easily imagine him wanting to re-negotiate Shaun’s contract to turn it into a part-time role.

And the related question is whether the role could be carried out by a coach who is also leading a Super League side.

The problem then would be that such a coach couldn’t make England his priority.

Any Super League coach has to put his club side first – and that really is a full-time job.

I suspect that most Super League coaches work much more than eight hours per day.

The other related issue is the attitude of the England players.

The evidence suggests that most of them fully support Shaun as the England coach.

The flip side of that is that they may not support whoever is his replacement.

Having said that, one of the weaknesses of Shaun’s tenure is the apparent lack of interaction of the England squad with the community at large, in sharp contrast to the Australians.

There appears to have been far more publicity generated by the Kangaroos in mixing with Rugby League fans generally.

We have seen plenty of photographs and video footage of players like Reece Walsh mixing with young people, but little of the English equivalent.

And that reflects the lack of promotional activities undertaken by Shaun and the England squad in the months leading up to the Ashes series.

An essential part of any contract for an England coach should surely specify a minimum number of media commitments leading up to a major tournament, especially given the ease with which that can be accommodated in the digital age.