England coach Brian McDermott has been sending footage of six-again calls in NRL matches to his large contingent of Super League players and a warning they need to combat higher fatigue levels or their World Cup could be over almost as soon as it begins.
England face Tonga in their opening World Cup match on October 17 at HBF Park and a loss will leave them needing to win their remaining pool games against France, also in Perth, on October 24 and Papua New Guinea at WIN Stadium on October 30.
McDermott named a 38-man performance squad in June and the Gold Coast Titans assistant coach – now in his fifth season in Australia - is well aware of the challenges facing the 27 Super League players in a tournament played under NRL rules.
“It's not about fitness levels, it's not about toughness or anything like that, it's just that there's a different way of playing the game over here, not dramatically but the differences are significant,” McDermott said.
“My task is to pick a group of players from the UK, and from the NRL as well, who I think will be best suited to a tournament which is refereed very much in an NRL style.
“We're going to have NRL rules and NRL interpretations, so you would imagine then that the speed of the game, with six-agains will be the exactly same.
“I reckon every player in Super League would be able to handle the NRL, it just might take some players longer to get used to it so my challenge for selection is to work out who those players are.”
There are 11 NRL-based players in the performance squad, led by Dolphins stars Herbie Farnworth and Morgan Knowles, Knights winger Dom Young, Wests Tigers secondrower Kai Pearce-Paul, Raiders forward Morgan Smithies and Titans utility back AJ Brimson, who played in last year’s Ashes series against the Kangaroos.
Roosters pair Victor Radley and Billy Smith, Bulldogs prop Max King, Raiders hooker Jayden Brailey and Broncos forward Ben Talty are the others – although McDermott warns that all of the NRL stars are unlikely to all make the squad.
England captain George Williams (Dolphins), secondrower Owen Trout (Sharks) and Perth Bears recruits Mikolaj Oledzki, Harry Newman and James McDonnell are set to join them in the NRL next season.
After missing the Ashes series, the likes of Jake Connor, the Leeds playmaker and Man of Steel, and Wigan secondrower Junior Nsemba – another NRL target – are likely to be in McDermott’s World Cup squad if they meet targets set for each Super League player.
“That first game against Tonga is a really important game for us,” he said. “I don't think we can take a couple of games to find our feet, so as much as we can, we're coaching through Teams and on Zooms like we are back in COVID again.
“Our preparation's got to be pretty good if we're having any hope of going deep into the tournament.
“I'm making references to the NRL all the time, and I'm showing them footage, and I'm showing them vision of NRL, in particular six-agains.
“We got some criteria that I've set all positions. I've sent them some tasks and criteria, I want them to meet to put themselves in the best position possible to be selected.
“And I'm trying to make my players aware that the levels of fatigue within that game are going to be far exceeding what they experience in Super League, so we've got to prepare for that.”
Match: England v Papua New Guinea
Round 3 -
home Team
England
away Team
Papua New Guinea
Venue: WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Choose your England World Cup team
Rugby League World Cup 2026 returns to Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. Where nations clash, heroes rise, and legends are forged. 3 World Cups. 26 Teams. The World’s Best. Tickets are now on sale from $19. Don’t miss the pinnacle of global Rugby League.
