The Ashes series between England and Australia kicks off this Saturday, and there has been plenty of discussions as to how the home nation will fare against the reigning World Cup winners.
The three-Test series begins at Wembley this week, with ticket sales for that one surpassing 50,000. Everton and Headingley host the second and third match, and both of those Tests are sold out.
The last time Australia lost to an England or Great Britain side was in 2006, when GB went to Sydney as part of the Tri-Nations series and secured a 23-12 victory. In the 11 attempts since then, England have lost on every occasion, and people Down Under are not expecting that record to change any time soon.
One player who voiced his say on the series, was former World Cup winner, Aaron Woods. The ex-Kangaroos spoke last week on how he belies the Tests won’t be competitive at all, and will find more pleasure in watching the Pacific Championships instead – a tournament made up of Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand.
Alongside negative comments of England picking the likes of Gold Coast Titans full-back, AJ Brimson, Woods reacted to a now viral video of Shaun Wane delivering a speech to his players earlier this year.
In response to the video, he said: “Can you wake me up? Listening to that, are you kidding? No wonder they haven’t won an Ashes series in that long.”
His outburst has been criticised by the UK media, and now two former England internationals have had their say on the matter.
James Graham and Josh Hodgson were both part of the last England squad to take on Australia, back in the 2017 World Cup Final. They too have criticised him for his comments, with the pair saying how “disrespectful” it was to give England no chance at all before a ball has even been kicked.
Speaking on Graham’s podcast, The Bye Round, Hodgson, who was a guest to preview the upcoming international period, said that a series win for England is vital, as it would show up all of those people who wrote them off and slated them for not having the required ability.
He said: “This is a really good chance for us to go out and put a stamp on us as an international team and, to be fair, without saying politically, shut a few people up. I’m sure that’s what the England lads will be thinking. That’s what I’d be thinking if I was in there. Shut everyone up. They expect us just to get whitewashed.”
Graham added: “One of those in particular, would be Aaron Woods. I thought it was pretty disrespectful what he was saying.
Hodgson replied: “I did [too]. I like Woodsy, I’ve met him a few times. Great bloke. But to watch a speech from and England coach and a coach who’s been around for a long time, and then basically say he’s fallen asleep watching it. Like, mate, you weren’t Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. You were a steady front tower who didn’t really intimidate anyone. You had a good offload and you were big. Let’s not be disrespectful and make out you were Mark O’Meley or this big, aggressive front rower. There’s just no need for it.”
Former England duo discuss importance of first Test and getting on the front foot
Both Graham, who will be part of the BBC’s commentary line-up in the series, and Hodgson played in Super League and NRL, and know how important game management is in big matches like these. Getting off to a near-perfect start in the first Test would go a long way in claiming a series win, and the pair agree that the Wembley Test is going to be the most important of the three.
“I think the big thing for England is that the first game is going to be huge,” said Hodgson. “I think If we can get them off the jump, I think we’ve a really good chance. At Wembley, I think there’s 50 or 60,000 tickets sold already for that one, the other two have sold out. So, 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 it’s a lot [to come back from].”
Graham agreed, adding: “Obviously, 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 be still 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 and then ride that out.
“I think back to a conversation I had with Luke Ricketson and Brett Kimmorley about the ’03 Ashes where Australia beat Great Britain in the last five to 10 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 10 minutes. So, what can England learn from that?
“I think back how far the English team has come, that semi-final against Tonga [2017 World Cup], that came down to the last 10 minutes, we were backs against the wall and that’s the standard of football that this English team can expect.”
Hodgson rounded off the discussion by saying: “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 you’re game plan’s 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.”
Serious About Rugby League has launched a brand new podcast which can be watched in full on our YouTube channel here.
