Shaun Wane explains decisions behind Wigan Warriors quartet's omissions from England squad
England coach Shaun Wane has explained the reasons behind his decisions to leave four Wigan Warriors players out of his 24-strong squad to host Australia in this autumn’s Ashes series.
The Warriors have three players named in Wane’s squad to host Australia this autumn in the shape of Jake Wardle, Harry Smith and Ethan Havard, but perhaps the most notable omission was prop Thompson, who played against Samoa last year.
The 30-year-old powerhouse featured in Saturday’s Grand Final defeat to Hull KR, but missed out on making Wane’s 24-strong squad.
“He was close,” said Wane on Thompson. “His form earlier in the year was fantastic.
"I’m a big Luke Thompson fan, but he got quite a bad injury. He came back and is yet to get the levels he had before, but he wasn’t far off. Luke Thompson is a good player, a great player, and I’ve got lots of time for him – that was a tough one in particular."
Warriors winger Marshall made his international debut for England last year in their Test series win over Samoa, but he hasn’t made the England squad this time around, despite making the Super League Dream Team for a second straight season.
"I had a call with Marshy,” explained Wane. “He is a great winger and I’m his biggest fan, but it is a tough job that we have as coaches to pick between all the talented wingers we’ve got. We have to make a call, and we have to imagine who is going to get us a win at Wembley, and, sadly, Marshy wasn’t in that. He is a good player, Marshy.”
Wigan’s homegrown talent Junior Nsemba is another player who made his England debut last year after a stellar breakthrough season in Super League, but he, too, has missed out on selection to face the touring Kangaroos.
"He is a good athlete, a really good kid, but there are areas in his game that he needs to get better at,” Wane said of Nsemba. “I look at it very differently than a lot of people. There are things he needs to get better at, and there are people in the squad that need to improve on certain things, and it is the same for me as a head coach. It’s all about continuous improvement, and Junior is definitely one of them.”
Wane also confirmed that hooker Brad O’Neill’s omission from his squad was ‘nothing to do with’ the two-match ban he has received following the Grand Final.
“Credit to all the coaches in Super League, there are so many players who could have got in,” Wane added. “But there were a few things that went through my mind, private things, but I went through every player yesterday (Sunday) who was in the squad and players who weren’t in the squad. Yesterday (Sunday) was a really tough day for me, but I must say the response from the players who aren’t in the squad was unbelievably good.
"The spirit – how they took the bad news from me, devastating news – but they wanted the team to crack on, and they’re going to come in the hotel and carry on visiting us because they are part of the squad. They just want us to do well in the Ashes, so all credit to those players.”