Shaun Wane makes 'intense games' comparison between Super League and NRL as England look to bridge gap
England boss Shaun Wane believes Super League needs more intense games – similar to their NRL counterparts – if they are to bridge the gap to world number one Australia.
The 61-year-old cut a defiant figure in the aftermath of his side’s 3-0 series whitewash at AMT Headingley on Saturday, insisting he believes he remains the right man to take the national team forward into next year’s Rugby League World Cup, which is held in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
But he has delivered a passionate plea that he needs more time with his players throughout the course of the season, with England unable to have a mid-season Test this year or any warm-up games ahead of the Ashes series.
“Yeah, I have (seen some things performance-wise that make me believe we can bridge the gap) – just not long enough,” said Wane post-match in Leeds. “We did some good things against a really good team, but we just need to do it for longer periods…
"They are playing State of Origin games and finals, and are playing less games, but very intense games that they play, but just not as many, whereas we play a lot more and less intense games, so that’s what we need – Test match games in a Super League season – but lots of them.”
England went down to a 30-8 defeat in the final Test after a late Australian surge in Leeds, adding to a 26-6 defeat at Wembley and a 14-4 loss at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium respectively.
Wane’s hopes of salvaging something from the first Ashes series in 22 years were undoubtedly hit by a lack of preparation time with his squad throughout the year, but the fact remains that the Kangaroos were simply too strong and were ruthless when it came to their execution, whilst they defended resolutely all series, conceding just two tries in the three Tests.
It will take a shift of seismic proportions for England to bridge the gap next year, but Wane maintains he will deliver his debrief to the Rugby Football League’s hierarchy in the hope of ensuring a better-equipped World Cup squad.
"I had the chance this year for four two-day off-feet sessions, but when you look at how condensed the season is, we had a job to get the players in for a video session, and that’s tough,” Wane admitted.
"To go into a tournament like this with four or five off-feet video sessions and sometimes not having players for that either, has been tough, and it’s a credit to the players to turn up with the performance that we did in the second Test and parts of the performance today.
"But I do understand from a head coach’s point of view and a CEO’s point of view of the challenges that Super League clubs have as well – I’ve been there – it’s tough to find that balance, but rest assured, the RFL, RL Commercial, the players, the staff – we all want the same thing, we were all desperate to get a result in the series but sadly it just wasn’t good enough.”
Wane was then asked if things needed to change in regards to the calendar at club level to give the national team a better chance of succeeding on the international stage, with it appearing likely that the calendar will not change much in 2026 as Super League expands to 14 teams.
"What happens commercially with Super League, that’s out of my hands,” Wane explained.
"I just know the amount games we play compared to them, the intensity of games and the players’ games… I understand a commerciality what you need in Super League to make it work, but if you look at the break George (Williams) is going to get compared to an Australian, he’s back in (pre-season training in) four-and-a-half weeks, and he is going to play 10 more games (than the Australians are) this year and it’s a tough ask, and we expect them to kill it in a World Cup next year.
"It’s hard, but if that’s the way it’s going to be, then we’ll knuckle down, do the best we can with our players and hopefully see a better result next year.”