England assistant coach Andy Last has reassured Jake Connor that if he continues to do what he is doing he’ll have every chance of being included for the Ashes.
The omission of Connor was one of the major talking points when Shaun Wane announced his mid-season squad last month, with the Leeds Rhinos man starring under the guidance of Brad Arthur this year.
Connor had built up a convincing lead at the top of the Man of Steel rankings before they went dark and few would argue that he has been the star of the campaign so far as he attempts to push the Rhinos towards the top end of the Super League table.
The decision to overlook Connor once more, having never called up the versatile former Hull FC man, caused uproar among supporters then and the Leeds man has been asked about the situation on several occasions since.
However, Last, who continues to work under Wane and has a degree of influence on selection, insists the door is still ajar for the playmaker.
Andy Last on Leeds Rhinos star Jake Connor’s Ashes chances
“We speak regular,” Last told Serious About RL when asked whether Wane has picked his brains on Connor. “It’s not open and it’s not shut.
“I think performance is the key, you’ve just got to keep playing well and if you keep playing well, you give yourself a chance to be in those conversations come the end of the season.
“There’s some guys in the squad whose form has been really, really good and some guys who aren’t in the squad whose form has been really good. As and when it comes to the end of the year, I think Shaun’s success rate over the last four years has been exceptional.
“No one questions selection when we beat Tonga 3-0 and Samoa 2-0, but unfortunately the media love negativity. Rather than speak about the guys that are in it, they’re more concentrated on the guys that are not in it.
“If Jake is playing well at the end of the season, by all means there’s every chance he’ll be in that squad. I think Shaun’s track record deserves to let him do what he does best and that’s win games.
“At the end of the end of the season the best 24 players will be picked to beat the Aussies and I think Shaun’s track record speaks for itself. I think he’ll pick the best 24 to get that job done.”
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With Australia appointing Kevin Walters as their new head coach, the Ashes series feels an awful lot closer now and Last struggled to contain his excitement and optimism when asked about the upcoming series.
“I think it’s 96 days now until Test match one,” he said. “We’re in contact fortnightly with the squad. We send clips to them on England standards, this is what England players should look like, this is what you need to do better and that’s working really well.
“Kevin Walters, Carty (John Cartwright) knows him from his time at Brisbane, he’s just been appointed as coach. It’s really exciting. By all accounts ticket sales are going well, they’ve sold out Test match three and two and Wembley is going well.
“I’ve always been part of Great Britain and Australia. It’s what I grew up on. I can remember doing my paper round in 1990 watching through the windows of people I was posting through, the Aussies against the British. My boyhood hero was Ellery Hanley in that Test match, chipping over and regathering and then setting up Paul Eastwood for two tries.
“If we can have a really strong series I fancy us to beat them!”
