Kevin Walters has labelled the notion of Australian-born players opting to represent England at international level as ‘great for the world game’. Ahead of this autumn’s Test series between Australia and England, a number of players have put their hand up to represent Shaun Wane’s side.
It seems Victor Radley has been something of a trailblazer for England after opting to represent his British heritage rather than the Kangaroos ahead of the 2022 World Cup. However, ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, Gold Coast Titans AJ Brimson looks set to follow suit, while Billy Smith has spoken with Shaun Wane, too.
Indeed a number of NRL players have English blood and there has been talk around the possibility of the likes of Ethan Strange and Jayden Brailey making themselves available for selection.
Given the number of Australian-born players who have made themselves available for Samoa, Tonga and other Pacific nations in recent years, Walters is more than familiar to the concept players switching international allegiances. In fact, despite losing out on some top tier talent, the Australia coach supports it.
“I think it’s great for our world game that players can represent the country they feel they’re most passionate for,” Walters said in a press call with the English media on Monday morning.
“We’ve seen a few Australian players in recent years putting their hand up and assigning themselves to the English rugby league which I don’t have a problem with. The stronger we can make the world game, the better for our game and the more challenging it is for every country.
“We’ve seen the Pacific nations really stand up in the last few years and England has always been strong and don’t really need any assistance whatsoever, but if they can get some outside help from players from Australia…
“There’s probably more English players from the Super League playing in our competition now than ever with the Raiders and Herbie [Farnworth], he’s injured at the moment but I believe he’ll be back maybe this week or next week, there’s talented players right across our competition that are English. I think it’s great for our game and great for the competition.”
Australia make the journey over to the Northern Hemisphere in October, with the first Test at Wembley being scheduled for October 25. Between arriving and walking out under the arch of the national stadium, though, Australia are keen to haven an opposed session and Walters has confirmed intentions to work alongside France, who take on Jamaica in World Cup qualifying that week.
“We’re in the process of organising that,” Walters said. “We need the 13 on 13 and we only have a squad of 22 so we’ll have to get some numbers exterior to that.
“Also, there’s some possibility that we’ll be doing some work with the French side as well, some training runs, when we arrive in London early in the week. I know they have a game that week so it will be part of their preparations as well.”
