Brian McDermott reiterates desire to lead England into next Rugby League World Cup

Brian McDermott has reiterated his desire to continue as England head coach and lead the side into the next Rugby League World Cup.

England bowed out of this year’s tournament over the weekend, with a 34-12 victory over Papua New Guinea not enough to secure a place in the semi-finals.

McDermott’s contract with the Rugby Football League runs until the end of the tournament, but he has made it clear that he would like to remain in the role and build towards the 2030 World Cup.

“I haven’t talked to anybody about that,” McDermott said when asked if he had held any conversations about extending his time as England boss following their win over Papua New Guinea.

“Let’s get this job out of the way - there’s enough time to talk about that (afterwards).

“I’ve made it public, and I’ll say it again, that I would like to do the job and have a four-year plan in place for the next World Cup, which is how it should be.

“And I’m really excited by that because if we can do what we’ve done over the last three weeks, if we can put that into a plan for the next four years - a proper strategic plan building up to the next World Cup - that would be good.

“But there have been no conversations about that during this World Cup here. We just need to nail what we need to do now.”

England’s opening-round defeat to Tonga ultimately proved costly. Subsequent wins over France and Papua New Guinea were not enough to see them progress, with the tournament format making it difficult for them to reach the last four.

Despite the disappointment of an early exit, McDermott said he was proud of the group and the progress made during his time with the squad.

“If you were to do a review of the camp or of the tournament, I’m immensely proud - it’s been really enjoyable,” said McDermott.

“Working with a group of men completely focused and committed, all the players are so driven, the staff have been great as well.

“I’ve only worked with a couple of the players in the past - they’re all new to me, and I’m new to all the staff. The NRL players joining the UK boys together has been so easy - I thought that might be something that we need to address, but it’s been so easy.

“Some of the senior players in the camp have been great. George (Williams) has been great as captain - he’s led in an enormous way, and it’s been great working with them all, and I feel we’ve made a lot of progressions as a group, certainly with our point of difference in attack.

“I thought we looked sharp in the first 25 minutes (against Papua New Guinea) and just in terms of defence and commitment to each other through D - I thought we were great throughout the whole game.

“There’s loads to be positive about and loads to be pleased with, but I’m probably sat here talking like we’ve lost the game, but that’s just because of the nature of the competition.”