{"id":210763,"date":"2025-10-13T18:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T18:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/210763\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T18:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T18:03:07","slug":"not-difficult-wane-explains-omission-of-jake-connor-from-england-ashes-squad-england-rugby-league-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/210763\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not difficult\u2019: Wane explains omission of Jake Connor from England Ashes squad | England rugby league team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The England head coach, Shaun Wane, has said the decision to leave Super League\u2019s Man of Steel, Jake Connor, out of his squad for the Ashes was \u201cnot really difficult\u201d. He added that he does not understand the obsession surrounding the exile of the Leeds Rhinos<\/a> half-back.<\/p>\n

Connor is by far the most notable omission from the 24-man squad to take on Australia in the first Ashes series since 2003. It begins on 25 October at Wembley, with Tests at Everton and Headingley to follow on successive Saturdays. There are a number of surprise inclusions, including a returnfor Hull KR\u2019s Joe Burgess after his two-try performance in the Super League Grand Final<\/a> on Saturday. The winger has been out of the national side for a decade.<\/p>\n

Connor was crowned last week as Man of Steel, an award that recognises the most consistent player in the domestic season. Wane, however, was unmoved by suggestions Connor should have been in his squad. When asked how tough that decision was, he said: \u201cNot really difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very good player is Jake and I spoke to him in the week and he\u2019ll be available for the World Cup next year. When picking a squad, the thing you will never hear from me is \u2018he\u2019s won the Man of Steel\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t pay attention to stuff like that. I don\u2019t know who\u2019s in the [Super League] Dream Team for example. That never comes into my reckoning. I\u2019ve watched all the players play and I know who can do a fantastic job against Australia.<\/p>\n

Jake Connor failed to make the England squad for the Ashes despite his Man of Steel award. Photograph: Jess Hornby\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good chat, he\u2019s a really good lad and I\u2019ve lots of time for him. But there\u2019s other players, other than Jake Connor, not got in this 24 and I don\u2019t see the obsession from every single person \u2026 the Man of Steel, it just doesn\u2019t mean anything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are first Test call-ups for the Leigh forward Owen Trout and the Gold Coast Titans\u2019 AJ Brimson, who was born in Australia. The 27-year-old back qualifies through his English mother.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideEngland Ashes squadShow<\/p>\n

John Bateman (North Queensland Cowboys), AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans), Joe Burgess (Hull KR), Daryl Clark (St Helens), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Matty Lees (St Helens), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Jez Litten (Hull KR), Mike McMeeken (Wakefield Trinity), Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos), Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos), Tom Johnstone (Wakefield Trinity), Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights), Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders), Owen Trout (Leigh Leopards), Alex Walmsley (St Helens), Jake Wardle (Wigan Warriors), Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Dom Young (Newcastle Knights).<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

He is one of six NRL-based players in the squad, with Herbie Farnworth and Kai Pearce-Paul retaining their places after the series victory against Samoa last year. The prospect of a first Ashes victory since 1970 represents a much sterner task, though Wane is adamant he has the group to achieve that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some tough decisions to be made given the quality we have across both Super League and the NRL, but I am confident that the 24 selected will give us the best chance of winning this series,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The England head coach, Shaun Wane, has said the decision to leave Super League\u2019s Man of Steel, Jake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-210763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}