Brian McDermott, the newly appointed England head coach, has made it clear that Super League's reigning Man of Steel, Jake Connor, is central to his plans for this year's World Cup. In his first press conference, McDermott appeared to criticise the treatment of the Leeds Rhinos half-back by his predecessor, Shaun Wane.
McDermott Unveiled as England Coach
McDermott was officially introduced on Thursday as England's coach on a short-term contract for the tournament in Australia this autumn. The former Leeds and London coach, currently working as an assistant for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, beat off competition from Sam Burgess to succeed Wane.
Connor's Omission Under Wane
The buildup to last year's Ashes series, which turned out to be Wane's final campaign in charge, was overshadowed by his decision to leave out Connor. Despite Connor being crowned Super League's best player in 2025, Wane insisted the selection was 'not difficult' and claimed he paid no attention to accolades like the Man of Steel. Connor's consistent omission puzzled many observers.
McDermott has now seemingly confirmed that Connor will be included in his World Cup squad, while also calling out the treatment the 31-year-old received. 'Yeah, he is (in my plans) for sure,' McDermott said. 'Absolutely. The rhetoric around Jake was tremendously unfair.'
'I understand where he comes from in that he's liked by some and disliked by others. That's the nature of the game. We can sit around the table and debate whether he's a nice person but that's not a fair rhetoric to be made public. You can't argue he's a fantastic player, he's a brilliant player – he's a game-breaker.'
World Cup Expectations
England were beaten 3-0 in the Ashes, and with only three training sessions planned before their opening World Cup match against Tonga in October, expectations are low. However, McDermott, Super League's most successful coach, holds a different view.
'The gap is bridgeable but you've got to have a plan specific to UK-based players, the level of preparation they're going to have and our competition,' he said. 'We can win it; absolutely we can win it – but we have to do some things differently.'
'In the Ashes, we pushed them all the way and they were rattled in parts of games. We just didn't do it for long enough. We're going to have to be really well connected and have a bond together. It can't just be grabbing hold of the badge and shouting aggressively so the optics look good. We're talking about true connection and a true bond.'
