Wane's Wembley warning for Yeo and co: Our turf, our rules

England coach Shaun Wane says he’ll be furious if the Kangaroos are proven to have had any discussion with the Rugby Football League aimed at changing the style of First Test referee Liam Moore at Wembley.

The series was launched at the match venue on Tuesday with players from each team, Wane and his opposite number Kevin Walters joined by all-time great Martin Offiah and members of the media from Australia, the north of England and London locals.

Australia named a squad including debutants Reece Walsh, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Gehamat Shibasaki and Keaon Koloamatangi before the function kicked off.

Kangaroos assistant coach Willie Peters said last week “however it’s going to be refereed, it’s gotta be the same ... if a team finds their front, you should be rewarded for that”.

Australian-born RFL referee James Vella - after holding talks with the tourists on Sunday - will take the Aussies at training at Harrow School on Wednesday in a session expected to demonstrate what was agreed upon.

That fired up Wane, who told NRL.com: “It’s our competition, it’s over here! I wouldn’t go to Australia and play an Ashes and expect our rules. It’s their rules. That’s the way it should be.

“At this late stage… I’d want to be told weeks and weeks ago so I can fix things in training, make sure that we’re on it. There’s nothing that’s been mentioned to me.

“We’ve got an English referee - it’s going to be refereed similar to the (Super League) grand final.

“We’ve had Super League refs down to train with us at Robin Park.”

Peters has drilled the Aussies in slower-style Super League play-the-balls at training. An Aussie team spokesman said finding a uniform set of rules and rule interpretations in the build-up to a game expected to attract around 60,000 had been smooth and without rancour.

Walters attempted to defuse the debate during the formal media conference on Tuesday, saying: “My father taught me from a very young age never to use the referee as an excuse for your performance and that will be the case for our boys on Saturday. He’s there to do a job and I’m sure he’ll be doing the best job. That’s not our focus.

“I strongly believe that he won’t decide the outcome of the game.”

The UK green card for faking an injury will not be use. The six-again usage in the NRL will also not apply, nor will it be possible to review a try after It has been awarded. But no-one is saying much about the extent to which Peters’ thoughts on ruck speed had made headway.

“Hull KR are kings of the slow ruck,” said England captain George Williams, in reference to Peters’ club team.

Williams also found himself challenged by reporters after he told The Guardian: “The Aussies see State of Origin as bigger than playing for Australia, which I find very strange. Some NRL lads were not that bothered about playing for Australia. I found that a weird one. I couldn’t get my head around it.”

But opposing captain Isaah Yeo indicated Williams' perception was valid, commenting: "I think the media drives that a lot, It's obviously a big income stream for the Australian rugby league, the NRL. I can only speak for myself: any time you represent your country that should be the pinnacle but that's probably more associated with how much money Origin makes.

"It's a really big series in the middle of the season that creates hundreds of millions of dollars, I'd assume."

Yeo said players can get caught up in that cultural heft but "if you ask the 24 in this squad, they'd say there's no bigger honour than playing for Australia. That's one of the reasons they've been selected, the moments when they're tired in games and things are going wrong in games, they stand up."

Williams said: "That’s not everybody, just a couple of lads I've spoken to would rather play for their state than their country - but I'm sure they Australian lads that are here can't want to play for their country."

There are nine changes in the Australian started side from the line-up that beat Tonga 20-14 in last year’s Pacific Championships final. The entire backline is new, while Angus Crichton, Hudson Young, Harry Grant and Yeo survive in the forwards. 

Tom Dearden goes from the starting side to the bench, where Reuben Cotter remains. That’s 12 personnel changes all up - and one positional change.

England will name 19 players, likely in alphabetical order, on Thursday.