Ellery Hanley says England are under the right stewardship with Shaun Wane

The former Wigan winger will coach the Combined Nations All Stars in this weekend’s game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Hanley hopes his side can give Wane’s England a good test to prepare them for the tournament later this year.

He said: “I think they’ve got a wonderful person and an extremely good coach in Shaun Wane, so they are under the right guidance and stewardship of the direction they want to go in.

“You normally hear throughout the course of a season, people saying teams are ‘well coached’ because they won a game, but I say this because I played with Shaun and I know his pedigree and his background.

“I know how good he is and what he expects from his players. He doesn’t leave any stones unturned, and doesn’t ask the players to do anything that he wouldn’t have done or thinks they can’t do.

“For me it is always about the players, you can give them information but they’ve got to carry that responsibility under pressure.

“The real test is going to be the World Cup, and we can judge them then after, that’s the only way you can do it.”

Ellery says there have been some hurdles while picking his squad for Saturday’s game.

He said: “It has been extremely challenging because in our game it’s a real occupational hazard, so it’s been difficult from that point of view.

“When trying to pull people in at the last minute, players had already booked to go away.

“I didn’t think it would be as hard as this, but we’re all excited now and can’t wait.

“Our boys want to test themselves against the best England players.

“If I was some years younger and I was in this particular squad for the Combined Nations, I can tell you there would be no way I would just be turning up to give England a run out.

“I’d be playing forcefully and have a purpose of being in this side.

“Coaching for me is very simple, in understanding the frameworks of what you want to work towards, in a game for 80 minutes.”