{"id":700060,"date":"2026-01-16T14:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/700060\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T14:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:32:18","slug":"wayne-bennett-throws-support-behind-dream-team-for-england-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/700060\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Bennett throws support behind ‘dream team’ for England job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former England boss Wayne Bennett believes the side\u2019s best chance of World Cup success lies with a coaching \u2018dream team\u2019 spearheaded by Sam Burgess and James Graham, and has backed them to replace Shaun Wane.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having spent just shy of five years in charge, it was announced that Wane had stepped aside earlier this week, allowing someone else the opportunity to lead England<\/a> into this autumn\u2019s World Cup, which takes place across Australia and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

Wane\u2019s departure came on the back of last autumn\u2019s 3-0 Ashes Series whitewash defeat on home soil to the Kangaroos.<\/p>\n

Bennett<\/a> guided England to the 2017 World Cup final, where they were narrowly beaten 7-0 by Australia, and has ruled himself out of any potential return to the role having been included as a long shot in the early betting odds.<\/p>\n

But he has not shied away from putting his suggestion forward for who should lead England, highlighting Burgess<\/a> and Graham as the standout candidates in an interview Down Under.<\/p>\n

Want more Love Rugby League? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> and ensure you never miss our exclusives and breaking news!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Former England boss throws support behind Sam Burgess-James Graham \u2018dream team\u2019 for vacancy<\/p>\n

Dewsbury-born Burgess is currently at the helm of Super League<\/a> outfit Warrington Wolves.<\/p>\n

He and Maghull native Graham played a combined 70 games for England during their playing careers, including 21 together between 2008 and 2018, while establishing themselves as NRL<\/a> icons at club level.<\/p>\n

Bennett believes the pair\u2019s leadership, passion and standing within the game would give England a significant boost, as he told The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Currently in charge of South Sydney Rabbitohs, the 76-year-old said: \u201cSam and James are my ideal choices as (England) coaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam is one of the best players I\u2019ve worked with, and James Graham<\/a> was outstanding during my time with him as England coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir passion was unbelievable, and they brought the English team a long way from where they had been. They were committed guys, great footballers, and through their leadership on and off the field, they made my job so much easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re young, they\u2019ve got an eye for the game, and I know what they\u2019re made of. Sam is coaching at the moment, so James could be an assistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just want them involved because they care and they have the respect of everybody who played during their era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters is the leading contender in the bookmakers\u2019 eyes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Australian led the Robins to a treble last season before helping to guide the Kangaroos to that series whitewash win against England in the Ashes, forming part of their coaching team under Kevin Walters.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Burgess and Graham that have Bennett\u2019s seal of approval as he added: \u201cThey have to go down that path and pick those guys because of what they bring.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England boss Wayne Bennett believes the side\u2019s best chance of World Cup success lies with a coaching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-700060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115905268787616081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}