{"id":108769,"date":"2025-09-02T09:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108769\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T09:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:13:10","slug":"rugby-league-fans-tell-shaun-wane-told-how-to-solve-key-ashes-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/108769\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby league fans tell Shaun Wane told how to solve key Ashes conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

England take on Australia in the first Ashes series for over 20 years, and head coach Shaun Wane has some tough decisions to make when it comes to picking the best players to challenge the best in the world.<\/p>\n

Super League has an abundance of English talent that would be eligible to face the Kangaroos, but one position has been hotly debated across the season, with fans unable to make their mind up as to who has earned a starting jersey.<\/p>\n

The halfbacks are arguably the most key positions on the field, especially in attack. Leading the team around the field whilst finding that creative spark to convert chances into points is a hugely complicated role that is made even harder when the opponents are some of the best players to ever play their position.<\/p>\n

For the past few years, England\u2019s starting halves have been George Williams and Harry Smith, the former being the England captain. However, after Warrington Wolves\u2019 disappointing season that has seen them finish outside of the playoffs, calls for Williams to be dropped have increased, with Mikey Lewis and Jake Connor<\/a> putting their name in the spotlight for a potential starting role.<\/p>\n

We asked Serious About RL<\/a> viewers who they believe should wear the six and seven jersey when England take on Australia at Wembley, and if the debate over on our social media is anything to go by, Shaun Wane has a huge selection headache on his hands.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Rugby league fans debate who should start in the halves for England against Australia<\/p>\n

Jim Johnson:\u00a0For me, I\u2019d take Smith, Lewis and Connor. Rotate the 3 of them between 6 and 7. Williams shouldn\u2019t be anywhere near the England squad.<\/p>\n

Andy Andy:\u00a0If Mikey Lewis isn\u2019t in then it\u2019s a disgrace. He is by far the best half back we have. I still don\u2019t think we will be good enough to beat the Aussies but at least let\u2019s give us our best chance.<\/p>\n

Paul Downes:\u00a0If Brad Arthur can get the best out of Connor but the coach of the national team can\u2019t, what does that say about Wane\u2019s man management? If Jake Connor isn\u2019t STARTING for England \u2013 not just in the squad, actually starting \u2013 then it\u2019s an absolute scandal. He is easily the best English halfback at the moment.<\/p>\n

Andy Blackburn:\u00a0Need X factor and unpredictability to beat the Aussies and Jake Connor fits the bill (Gary Schofield style player). Pair him with a cool head and running 6 and we might have the halves combo to beat the Aussies especially if our middles can get over the top of the Aussie middles missing their Polynesian big names.<\/p>\n

Andy Ed:\u00a0Lewis and Smith is best option. A free running half with a controlling one. Williams is 6 for a team that have won 10 games all year and will finish 8th\u2026there\u2019s no way he\u2019s England standard nor has any recent experience of big games<\/p>\n

Andrew Johnson: It has to be Connor & Lewis, 2 brilliant players, currently on top of their game.<\/p>\n

Vanessa Gray:\u00a0 Should be Connor and Lewis but SW will pick Williams and Smith.<\/p>\n

Darren Clark:\u00a0On form Lewis and Connor but we all know he will pick Williams and Smith<\/p>\n

Garrath Willshaw: Williams hasn\u2019t played well enough this year but he\u2019ll start. Not sure how he ended up captain to be honest. Smith, Connor and Lewis in front of Williams on this years performances.<\/p>\n

Peter Frodsham: Not sure who should start but, Williams shouldn\u2019t!!! He can\u2019t even motivate his club team to play, what chance has he got against the Aussies?<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England take on Australia in the first Ashes series for over 20 years, and head coach Shaun Wane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-108769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}