Harry Smith has ‘deserved his shot’ at England claims George Williams as captain discusses off-field influence following failed appeal

The 28-year-old Warrington star, who succeeds Sam Tomkins as England’s captain, will be forced to watch from the sidelines for the opening two games in St Helens and Huddersfield respectively in the first-ever series between the two nations.

Having led Wigan to Super League Grand Final glory over Catalans at Old Trafford, alongside this year’s League Leaders’ Shield, Harry Smith looks set to start against the international powerhouses after being included in Shaun Wane’s 24-player squad.

The 22-year-old was one vote short of claiming the Harry Sunderland Trophy at Old Trafford, and could partner Mikey Lewis in the opening game at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

And Williams says he is looking forward to reuniting with Smith on the training field, having briefly played together as team-mates at the DW Stadium.

The England skipper said: “I played with Harry at Wigan in 2019 for a couple of games. I trained with him that year and I’ve seen him come through.

“He’s progressed really well and deserves a shot at England on the back of League Leaders’ Shield and winning the Grand Final, he’s had a great year for Wigan and I look forward to catching up with him again.

“I’m looking forward to him coming in and obviously there’s Mikey Lewis from Hull KR, too. There’s some youth in there and I’m excited for a few lads within the group that haven’t really been in an end-of-year camp.

“This will probably be their biggest challenge yet.”

Williams, who returned to Super League with Warrington in 2021, will do all he can to help prepare the side off the field with the opening clash just days away against a star-studded Tonga.

England have 12 members included from last year’s World Cup on home soil, including NRL stars Tom Burgess, John Bateman, Elliott Whitehead, Victor Radley and this year’s NRL top try-scorer, Dom Young.

“I’ll have to lead in different ways off the pitch, in meetings and be influential that way instead of on the pitch,” Williams said.

“We’ve got some talent, you look at some of the wingers for example - Tommy Makinson, Matty Ashton, Tom Johnstone and Dom Young - all four of them are flyers and exciting to watch.

“As much as we’ve got our hands full with Tonga, they’ve got their hands full with us.”

This year’s test series also sees Williams reunite with former Wigan team-mate and now captain Liam Farrell in the England camp, having won three major titles together for the Warriors.

It’s the first call-up for the veteran back-rower in two-years, having missed last year’s World Cup due to a knee injury.

He is joined by Toby King and Tyler Dupree, alongside Smith, as Wigan’s representatives.

“I’ve known Faz [Farrell] for a long time,” Wigan academy product Williams continued.

"We obviously played together on the left edge at Wigan and won two Grand Finals together and a World Club Challenge.

"We have a couple under our belts and hopefully we can get another in the test series against Tonga.”