England coach reiterates demand for Roses return as long-term plan shared

Australia are taking the Ashes as seriously as England, despite having no coaching team in place, no hotels or training pitches booked and no apparent itinerary for their end-of-season tour.

That’s the view of England head coach Shaun Wane, who has told Love Rugby League that the Kangaroos ‘will be ready’ by the time the autumn Ashes series rolls around at Wembley, Headingley and Everton.

Wane was responding to worrying comments from Australia legend Brad Fittler, who has detailed that the Aussies are nowhere near ready for the tour.

“They are a good team, they are the best in the world and have a lot of players to pick from,” Wane told Love Rugby League, when asked whether the Aussies were taking the Ashes as seriously as England are.

“They will be ready to play when it comes round to Ashes time. They will be very competitive.

“They have just had a change from Mal (Meninga) and I understand that, and the new coach coming in will have different views on what he wants. But when it comes to the end of the year they will be ready for this Ashes series I am sure.

“I hope it is the kind of Ashes series we used to have and that will do our game the world of good.”

Wane has conceded that he feels the current standard of Super League needs to go up a notch to give his players the level of performance required to compete with Australia.

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“Test matches are another level to Super League. I need to be seeing more players stand out from an England point of view.

“My standards are high and one attribute I have is that I know what we need to do to win at Wembley, to win at Headingley and to win at Everton.

“I know what it looks like and things like not winning the play of the ball, accuracy of pass, all those sort of things we need to nail. We need to have 15 players playing their best ever games in that first game at Wembley. When I watch games at the moment I just need to see more players standing out.”

England will go into the Ashes series without playing any warm-up games, which Wane admits is “difficult” and something he feels should again lead to a drive to restore the Yorkshire versus Lancashire Origin games to serve as England trials.

“I need more intense games and I want more strength in depth.

“The ideal night would be at Headingley, France against England Knights and then Lancashire against Yorkshire with Lee Briers and Andy Last, with lots of money to win the game with a really good sponsor.

“And the teams really go at it State of Origin style, with lots at stake. That would be perfect prep for a game like this.”

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