{"id":225398,"date":"2025-10-19T15:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T15:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225398\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T15:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T15:33:10","slug":"aussie-nrl-great-tears-shreds-off-england-ahead-of-rugby-league-ashes-and-blasts-coach-shaun-wane-for-his-attempt-to-rouse-his-team-to-victory-ahead-of-first-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/225398\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie NRL great tears shreds off England ahead of Rugby League Ashes and blasts coach Shaun Wane for his attempt to rouse his team to victory ahead of first Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aussie rugby league great Aaron Woods has lit the touch paper ahead of Australia\u2019s first rugby league Ashes Test match at Wembley on Saturday, by delivering a damning assessment of England\u2019s current squad, while also dishing up a brutal swipe at the hosts\u2019 coach, Shaun Wane.<\/p>\n

Wane has raised some eyebrows in the build-up to next weekend\u2019s crunch match, opting not to select this year\u2019s Super League Man of Steel, Jake Connor, for the squad.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old has not played international rugby league since 2019, and while he has enjoyed an excellent season, scoring seven tries for Leeds, George Williams, Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis have all been drafted in ahead of him.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was not really difficult (to leave Connor out),\u2019 Wane said. He’s a very, very good player, Jake, no doubt about that. I spoke to him in this week and he’s going to be available for the World Cup next year.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I’m picking a squad, the thing you will never hear from me is: \u201cHe’s won the Man of Steel, he needs to be in\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I just watch the players play and think who can do a fantastic job against Australia. It is more about form than anything else,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\"Former <\/p>\n

Former NRL player Aaron Woods (pictured) has delivered a scathing verdict of how England will fare against Australia in the upcoming Rugby League Ashes Series<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Woods shot a dig at England boss Shaun Wane (pictured), appearing to claim that the coach’s speech attempting to rouse his players to victory sent him to sleep<\/p>\n

Included in Wane\u2019s 24-player squad is Hull KR winger Joe Burgess, who rejoins the side for the first time since 2015. Meanwhile, Gold Coast Titans star, and Queensland-born fullback, Alexander Brimson, will declare England his national side, after being called up by Wane.<\/p>\n

However, Woods, who won 17 caps for the Kangaroos between 2014 and 2018, has bluntly refused any notion that England can beat Australia.<\/p>\n

Asked if he has any concerns that the hosts could surprise the tourists, the former New South Wales prop said to Triple M\u2019s NRL Daily<\/a>: \u2018Worries? Not one single bit.<\/p>\n

He then delved into his reasoning: \u2018Watching that game, it\u2019s attack-oriented. They [England] move the ball really quickly but defensively, they\u2019re going to really struggle against Australia, just the way in which we tackle. The Penrith system, they tackle up. So when you put your kick chase in behind, a lot of English sides they like the contact, they want to put a massive shot on.<\/p>\n

\u2018A lot of the time you can bounce, spin and find your front and that generates a quick play-the-ball, which starts your set off easy.<\/p>\n

\u2018These blokes, like your [Isaah] Yeos, what they\u2019ve done so well is that they hit together. And then instead of letting you find your front, they tackle and lift you up and they drive you back five-ten metres and it ruins your set straight away. I don\u2019t know how England are going to handle the defensive intensity of Australia.\u2019<\/p>\n

The subject quickly moved onto England coach Wane and England\u2019s record in the series, with the Three Lions having not won a series since 1970.<\/p>\n

The last time the sides met over a three-match Test series was back in 2003, where Australia pummelled the hosts, Great Britain, 3-0 in England.<\/p>\n

\"Wane <\/p>\n

Wane has raised some eyebrows after he opted not to pick Leeds Rhinos star Jake Connor – the Man of Steel for 2025\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Woods <\/p>\n

Woods (with his wife Sarah) has immediately written England off, claiming the hosts are going to get battered defensively by Australia<\/p>\n

Wane was recently pictured delivering a rousing speech to his team, in which he attempted to galvanise his team to victory, noting how long it\u2019s been since his side claimed victory.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a chance and an opportunity that you can\u2019t miss,\u2019 Wane said to his squad. \u2018The idea of today\u2019s meeting is to make it absolutely crystal clear to you what you need to do to make sure that you\u2019re in.<\/p>\n

\u2018Can you imagine what it feels like to win the Ashes? It\u2019s massive. It might never happen again in your playing career.\u2019<\/p>\n

In response to hearing the clip, Woods shot a brutal dig at Wane, appearing to claim his motivational talk was boring.<\/p>\n

\u2018Can you wake me up?\u2019 Woods replied bluntly on Triple M.<\/p>\n

\u2018Are you kidding? You wonder why they haven\u2019t won an Ashes in that long…\u2019<\/p>\n

Woods added: \u2018You might as well get James Graham to pump them up.<\/p>\n

\u2018He [Graham] probably wouldn\u2019t shut up in that meeting… he\u2019d think it was all about himself…<\/p>\n

\"Wane <\/p>\n

Wane has also opted to pick Queensland-born fullback AJ Brimson who qualifies to play for England through his mother’s family<\/p>\n

Adam Peacock didn\u2019t agree with Woods\u2019 comments, stating: \u2018I didn\u2019t mind it.\u2019<\/p>\n

But Woods was left staggered: \u2018You\u2019re kidding, aren\u2019t ya?\u2019<\/p>\n

Woods then took a dig at Queensland-born fullback, Brimson, who has been selected to play for England during the series, qualifying to play for the hosts through the maternal side of his family.<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019re getting blokes like Brimson, who can\u2019t make a Queensland squad or Australian team to go over and play for them,\u2019 Woods added, speaking on the Gold Coast Titans outside back.<\/p>\n

\u2018You of all people, Aaron Woods, given your history at Origin time of late, writing teams off saying they cannot win because of dot, dot, dot… I\u2019m wary,\u2019 Peacock said.<\/p>\n

Woods was then pressed on whether Tonga, Samoa or New Zealand have a better chance of beating Australia than England.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think Tonga, New Zealand and Samoa have a better chance of beating Australia than England,\u2019 Woods said. \u2018I love what Tonga and Samoa, the sides, and players and Payne Haas, Stefano Utoikamanu, that have pledged to play for those. You know, Jeremiah Nanai, he probably could have played for the Australia squad back in the day. He\u2019s outstanding.<\/p>\n

\u2018You look at both the rosters [between England and Australia], it\u2019s phenomenal, and to be honest I\u2019m probably more interested in watching the Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a game, Tonga vs Samoa at Suncorp Stadium, I wish I could go to that, I think it\u2019s almost sold out…<\/p>\n

\u2018I think it\u2019s an each-way bet with those three sides, I don\u2019t know who is going to be in the final. Because they\u2019re three strong outfits. I would have been a little more confident in New Zealand if Jahrome Hughes wasn\u2019t getting off-season surgery.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aussie rugby league great Aaron Woods has lit the touch paper ahead of Australia\u2019s first rugby league Ashes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,100,1208,761,762,158,701,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-225398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-national-rugby-league","13":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","14":"tag-nrl","15":"tag-queensland","16":"tag-sport","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225398","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=225398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}