Former England stalwarts James Graham and Josh Hodgson have urged Shaun Wane\u2019s squad to \u2018rattle\u2019 Australia in this weekend\u2019s opening Ashes Test and get themselves on the front foot from the off.<\/p>\n
Graham<\/a> and Hodgson made more than 60 combined appearances in an England shirt, including 18 alongside one another.<\/p>\n Forming part of the England<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Both spent a large chunk of their career over in the NRL<\/a>, and have delivered their take on what the game plan should be heading into Saturday\u2019s opener at Wembley.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ve got to go completely all-in from the get-go and look to rattle Australia from the beginning, then ride that out\u2019<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Appearing on Graham\u2019s The Bye Round\u2019 podcast<\/a>, Hodgson said: \u201cI think the big thing for England is that the first game is going to be huge.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if we can get them off the jump, we\u2019ve got a really good chance. At Wembley, I think there\u2019s 50\/60,000 tickets sold already for that one, and the other two (Tests) have sold out.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can get them off the jump when they\u2019re maybe not ready for us, then you\u2019re going into the next two games one-nil up and it\u2019s a lot (to come back from).\u201d<\/p>\n Graham will form part of the BBC\u2019s coverage of this autumn\u2019s three-Test series<\/a>. He responded: \u201cObviously, in any Test Series, the first game is absolutely vital.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think, with something like State of Origin, there\u2019s a lot more time. Australia haven\u2019t had that much time together. They\u2019ll still be working on combinations, as will the English side, but I think the motivation for England is we\u2019ve got to go completely all-in from the get-go and look to rattle Australia<\/a> from the beginning, then ride that out.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n \u201cI 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\u2026 we were backs against the wall and that\u2019s the standard of football that this English team can expect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Just stick to the game plan\u2019<\/p>\n Hodgson donned a shirt for both Hull KR and Hull FC in Super League<\/a> as well as Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels in the NRL.<\/p>\n