Williams shouting for place in England side

George Williams is planning to turn up the volume in England training this week!
George WilliamsGeorge Williams
George Williams

The Wigan halfback and his team-mates arrived at their Perth base on Friday.

They spent the weekend trying to shake off their jetlag, renewing acquaintances and starting preparations for their warm-up match this weekend.

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And Williams will be doing all he can to try and convince coach Wayne Bennett he deserves a crack against Australia in the opening World Cup game the following week.

Williams joked: “Wayne asked me to work on my talk, so I’ll be shouting my head off in training!

“I’ve been trying to work on it this year and hopefully that comes across.

“I know what to expect from playing under Wayne last year.

“I got on well with him. He’s quite funny, the media may not see that side of him, but he is.

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“But he’s also a bit like Waney (Shaun Wane) in that he’s direct and honest, and tells it as it is.”

Williams is one of three Wigan players in the England squad, along with captain Sean O’Loughlin and forward John Bateman, and one of four halfbacks picked by Bennett.

Gareth Widdop, Luke Gale and Kevin Brown are also involved, and Williams admits he was relieved to get the call-up.

“In the past, we’ve had the phone call about 10am the day after the Grand Final,” he revealed.

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“This year, it got after dinner and I hadn’t heard anything.

“I was messaging Scott Taylor every five minutes, and then eventually he text and said he was in, and then 10 minutes later I got the call from (team manager) Jamie Peacock.

“I was always hopeful of being in, but it’s hard to guess because there are so many good players.”

England will face an Affiliated States Championship representative side in Perth this Friday in a warm-up game before their World Cup opener the following week.

This is Williams’ fifth trip to Australia.

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He has holidayed there with his family twice, toured with the England academy - alongside current team-mates Ben Currie, Bateman and Mark Percival - and also travelled with Wigan for the 2014 World Club Challenge.

Asked what he will miss from home, Williams replied: “Vimto, and my dog, Floyd.”