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St Helens and England full-back Jack Welsby has had his say on the international eligibility debate ahead of this year\u2019s rugby league Ashes.<\/p>\n
England will take on Australia in the first Ashes series since 2003 and it will mark the first time that the men\u2019s sides have met since the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Final, a 6-0 defeat for England.<\/p>\n
Having dispatched Samoa and Tonga in recent series, Shaun Wane\u2019s side now take a huge step up to face the world champions and the status of the game hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n
In fact, a number of players have come out to declare their allegiance for England, including former Australia Nines international AJ Brimson, with the most recent being Sydney Roosters\u2019 Billy Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n One man who is eligible to play for England is Canberra Raiders\u2019 gun half Ethan Strange with the Australian-born 21-year-old qualifying for England through his mother<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jack Welsby talks England eligibility after St Helens win<\/p>\n As it stands at the moment, should Strange declare for England then he would forfeit any future appearances for New South Wales. There\u2019s also a strong chance that he\u2019s selected to play for Australia this year, however, he\u2019s been spoken about by Jack Welsby and the Sky Sports pundits.<\/p>\n Strange helped score one of the most dramatic tries of the season on Friday morning as Canberra beat Penrith Panthers in golden point. Penrith\u2019s drop goal attempt hit the upright and led to Strange racing 70 metres before teeing up a teammate for the win and Welsby recounted that drama when speaking post-match on Sky Sports after St Helens\u2019 win over Hull FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI watched the games this morning out of sheer nerves for this game and what a game this morning, did you see it? Ethan Strange is some player so we\u2019ve got it all cut out at the end of the year in the Ashes,\u201d Welsby said.<\/p>\n Playing devil\u2019s advocate, Jon Wilkin suggested that Strange could even be playing for England which opened Welsby to talk about the current eligibility debate, as well as the competition Strange would face.<\/p>\n The St Helens man said: \u201cHe\u2019s got some competition over here at six as well with the likes of Mikey Lewis and George Williams and them type of players, but he\u2019s obviously an exceptional player, that try today showed it.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the growing number of \u2018heritage\u2019 players and them declaring just in time for the Ashes, Welsby said he was skeptical at first but that he understands.<\/p>\n He explained: \u201cObviously it\u2019s a subject that gets brought up a lot about Super League and stuff like that, but having someone like Victor Radley come into the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking \u2018How\u2019s he English\u2019, and then he comes in and you speak to his dad. His dad\u2019s from Sheffield and he\u2019s the most obvious Englishman you\u2019ve ever seen, and you sort of understand why people like that want to put their hands up.<\/p>\n \u201cI can understand people\u2019s perspective when they don\u2019t know the person, but when the person comes in and explains it to you, it\u2019s a lot more touching and understanding why they want to do it, = so as long as they\u2019ve got a good backstory, I\u2019m happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rugby League or fishing? \ud83c\udfa3<\/p>\n Jack Welsby takes on \u2018Challenge that\u2019 \ud83d\udcaa pic.twitter.com\/iN1ffLH4Lc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) August 22, 2025<\/a><\/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 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/srl-logo.png\"\/){kind=logo}
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