George Williams DROPPED as England’s Ashes halves ranked on current form

Shaun Wane faces a number of major selection headaches ahead of the Ashes series, but there is no doubt the biggest one comes in the halves. 

The depth chart at both six and seven is loaded with some of the best players in Super League. George Williams has been Wane’s skipper since 2023, while Harry Smith has been the incumbent starter in that time too. Elsewhere, reigning Man of Steel Mikey Lewis has featured heavily, but has been forced to take up a new role on the bench in recent outings in the white jersey.

There are also some strong candidates looking to disrupt the status quo, namely Jake Connor, who has been a revelation since making the move to Leeds Rhinos and has starred alongside Brodie Croft in the halves.

That gives Wane an even harder task of picking his starting half-backs, especially with some players having credit in the bank at Test level, but how would the England unit look if it was picked solely on form? Well, here is our take on exactly that.

5: Jack Welsby

Granted, the chances of Welsby playing half-back at the moment are somewhat obscure – but he may well end up playing there for St Helens before the end of the season, at least.

Furthermore, with AJ Brimson a viable option at fullback for Wane to select from.. is it totally inconceivable Welsby plays half in the Ashes? Well, probably. That’s why we’ve got him at number five.

4: George Williams

It’s been a tough year for all involved at Warrington, and George Williams is very much grouped in with that and could lose his England spot as a result.

He has had flashes of his usual brilliance, and in recent outings has tried to make things happen for his team, but it’s just not come off as much as he or Wire would have wanted. Despite that, though, he still sits quite high in the assists chart with 17 to his name to date.

One thing that does go for him is his previous Test experience, after leading England to a series win over Samoa as captain and coming straight back into the Test Three side to face Tonga despite the form of Mikey Lewis in the previous two Tests of that series, and he could very easily still see himself named in the starting role.

3: Harry Smith

Through no fault of his own, Harry Smith finds himself at number three on our list. It’s not that he’s not playing well, either; it’s simply that there are others in better form right now.

The Wigan Warriors half-back has had a strong season nonetheless, and while a lot of the headlines fall to Bevan French in their club partnership, Smith’s calm and collected game management is a real strong point within their system.

His kicking game, particularly long kicks out of his own territory, is a real strong point, but his distribution and creativity is also excellent, shown by him sitting sixth in the assists leaderboard with 19. He can definatley count himself unlucky to be ranked outside of the top two.

2: Mikey Lewis

While Williams might be Wane’s number one, on current form, Mikey Lewis gets the nod at six. The 24-year-old has been in dazzling form across the season, with him currently third in the league for both tries (19) and assists (27) while also sitting in the top 20 for carries (325) and metres (2,388), as he spearheads the Hull KR title charge.

His most recent outing against St Helens, in which he overcame a scary knee hyperextension, also proved he can perform in the big games when the pressure is on. If he carries on his form into the play-offs, that Ashes starting shirt could easily be his.

1: Jake Connor

Wane has previously said Jake Connor needs to be more consistent to crack the England side, but he’s been one of the most consistent performers in Super League over the past few months.

Being snubbed from the initial 32-man train-on squad must have stung, given his already good form for Rhinos at either full-back or half-back, but he seems to have channelled that disappointment into even more impressive performances as Leeds go in search of a top two finish.

Like Lewis, he also finds himself near the top of the creative stats, with his 30 assists putting him second in the charts across the league, and he’s become the Rhinos’ primary in-play kicker too, which will certainly please Wane, considering England’s own kicking game against Tonga and Samoa.