BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Former Great Britain captain Garry Schofield believes Shaun Wane was removed from his post with England and did not step aside, and says the national team coach had to go after poor selections, tactics and performances during the Ashes.
England were defeated 3-0 in the Ashes by Australia late last year. Yesterday, the RFL announced that Wane, who has coached England since 2020, had agreed to “step aside”. The RFL had conducted a review into the national team after the Kangaroos whitewashed England in October and November,
After the third Test at Headingley, Wane had claimed publicly that he knew he was the right man to coach England at the 2026 World Cup.
But Schofield, who earned 49 caps for his country, insists removing Wane was the correct decision.
“There’s no way Shaun Wane has walked,” he told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“He has been given the sack. Shaun Wane said after the third Test at Headingley, he was asked who should lead England to the World Cup and he said there’s only one person and that’s me.
“Does he deserve the sack? 100% he does. Even before the Ashes series, look at his team selection.
“In saying he doesn’t take any notice or couldn’t care less of who wins the Man of Steel or who’s in the Dream Team. Well, I’m sorry, whoever’s the Man of Steel is the best player in the competition.
“Whether Jake Connor is good enough as an international, we won’t know. Is he? The jury’s still out. Unless we give him the opportunity we don’t know. But Jake Connor should have been in the squad.
“So should have Elliot Minchella, Dean Hadley and James Batchelor. His squad selection was wrong. He picked players, who he said himself, have got credit in the bank. But I’m sorry that doesn’t work in sport. You’ve got to pick form players.
“At the end of the day Shaun Wane didn’t do that. He picked his mates, he picked players who would play to the gameplan and the structure that he favours, and as well as know, the boring structure he plays was found out against the Australians. There was a lack of creativity.
“He’s not a coach who will promote, who will tell the players there is a Plan B or Plan C to unlock defences, if Plan A is not working. The proof is in the pudding.
“We played three Test matches, we played 240 minutes of rugby league and we scored two tries, and one of them was a bargeover with eight minutes to go at Wembley.”
England and Wane were criticised for a lack of fan engagement, media coverage and visible presence in each of the three cities hosting Tests during the Ashes, compared with the Kangaroos.
“From squad selection, from tactics, from performance and also as well when you look at off the field, the way Wane didn’t promote the Ashes,” Schofield says.
“The way he didn’t promote the England team. The game is struggling as a whole to get any sort of publicity. You saw what the Australians did.
“They had an opening training session at Headingley, the fans loved it. They were partnering up with Bon Jovi at Wembley, they were all over it at Everton and what does he do? He puts England away like it’s a top secret, that nobody was going to know what England were doing.
“Well, we did know what England were doing, and when they played they didn’t do a right lot.”
England is now on the hunt for a new head coach, with the likes of Hull KR’s Willie Peters, Wigan’s Matty Peet and North Queensland assistant Brian McDermott linked to the job.
Schofield, a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame, believes the job should go to St Helens coach Paul Rowley.
“Paul Rowley, without a doubt, with Lee Briers and Sam Burgess as his assistants,” he said.
“That would be my choice. It would be a totally different philosophy from Paul Rowley.
“We know Lee Briers what he can do as an attacking coach. We know Sam Burgess with his experience as an international, and in the NRL, so I think that would be the ideal coaching team.”