The northern hemisphere game has deep-rooted problems, and seems to be stuck in stasis when compared with the thriving NRL.

England had a record of being a major player at World Cups – having reached two finals and a further four semi-finals at the past six tournaments.

But when last autumn’s 3-0 Ashes series defeat by Australia prompted the departure of head coach Shaun Wane, his successor was handed a near-impossible task.

Brian McDermott was appointed in April. Given just six months to prepare, the former Leeds Rhinos head coach had no mid-season international to work on a plan. Based in Australia because of his role as Gold Coast Titans assistant coach, he relied on virtual meetings to connect with his prospective squad and staff.

Four on-field sessions were planned in Australia before the World Cup. But only two were completed in full after his UK-based players were subjected to a 48-hour journey to Perth that left them exhausted – a situation McDermott compared to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the 1987 road-trip comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

It was a shambolic way to prepare for a pivotal opener against Tonga – one that always had the potential to consign the defeated team to an early elimination.

Following that 30-12 loss, McDermott said: “You give me another two or three weeks preparation or another couple of games of preparation leading into the tournament and I’d be really excited.”

With the tournament organisers planning travel itineraries for the teams involved, any post-World Cup debrief ought to examine how that situation was allowed to occur.

It would have made more sense for England’s opener to be against France – the only other team in the men’s tournament made up largely of northern hemisphere-based players.

Wakefield Trinity’s historic triumph may have delivered a wonderful sign-off story to the Super League season but it delivered another conundrum around England’s squad selection.

Had McDermott known prior to 5 October that none of the Wakefield players in his thinking would be available, could arrangements have been made for his UK-based players to travel to Australia earlier?

In the end, only three of the 14 England-based players in the squad (George Williams, Matty Ashton and Ben Currie) participated in the Super League Grand Final on 3 October.

“If we come together next year as a group, we will be further down the track and we don’t need to start from scratch,” McDermott added.

“Bear in mind when we landed in Perth on the Friday (9 October), we are starting… like we didn’t know each other.

“We were putting things in place about who we are as a group, what it means to us, how we are going to play, how we are going to attack and how we are going to defend. There’s been a ton of work gone on.”



–