Shaun Wane has yet to decide who will be his England captain

Shaun Wane has a “few ideas” about who will captain his England side.
England coach Shaun WaneEngland coach Shaun Wane
England coach Shaun Wane

But he will wait until later this year before naming his skipper.

The former Wigan coach, who has confirmed Andy Last and Paul Wellens as his assistants, is still hopeful the autumn Ashes series against Australia will go ahead.

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And if it does, he will name his captain closer to the time.

“I’ll name it closer to the series,” he said. “It’s important but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important.

“I’ve got a few ideas who I like as leaders, who could be potentially captain.

“But the main thing for me is getting the squad together and making sure they understand what I’m about, because I’m very different to the last regime.

“The sooner we can do that and move forward the better.”

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His on-field general at Wigan, Sean O’Loughlin, is technically the incumbent England captain but plans to retire at the end of this year and wasn’t included in Wane’s provisional squad. Similarly, James Graham – who led Great Britain last autumn – is, at 34, also in the twilight of his

career.

Wane is keeping himself busy during the lockdown, studying matches and other sports, as well as speaking to coaches.

And he hopes to make contact with Kangaroos counterpart Mal Meninga to discuss the prospect of the Ashes series going ahead – which appears to hinge on when the NRL will run until.

“I’ve spoken with Lammy (Adrian Lam), who is an assistant there with Australia,” said Wane.

“Every day I’m writing a list of people I want to speak to and Mal is one of those. He’s got a job to do at the Titans but he’s someone I’m keen to get hold of.”