England pack star would love chance to tackle star-studded Exiles again

The Canberra Raiders star, one of this country’s most experienced players, would welcome the return of the representative team to offer England a much-needed test ahead of the 2021 World Cup.

The home three-Test series against Australia – planned for October and November – was officially called off earlier this week due to the knock-on effects of coronavirus.

It has once more left the national side bereft of any fixtures this term, having already not played since 2018 given they were on hiatus last year due to the re-formation of Great Britain.

Former Bradford Bulls favourite Whitehead, a mainstay of the Test team since debuting in 2014, admits it was a setback seeing the Ashes called off.

“It is always a great privilege to play for your country,” he told The Yorkshire Post. “There’s a few changes this year as well – Shaun Wane’s in charge now and he’s a great coach from what he did at Wigan.

“I’d love to play under him but, hopefully, I will get that chance next year. I’ll just have to keep training hard.

“It is disappointing the Ashes is cancelled but, obviously, things have changed here with State of Origin now at the end of the year so it always looked like we’d never get these Tests fitted in.

“Hopefully, we can find another game, maybe the Exiles team just to get the England team together.

“I believe we probably do need that – getting together to play – with the World Cup next year.

“We want to win that comp’ and it’d help if we could all get together this year to lead into that.”

With England hosting the World Cup and approaching nearly half a century since Great Britain last lifted the trophy in 1972, losing the chance to tackle the touring Kangaroos as preparation is clearly a significant blow.

But resurrecting the Exiles, a representative side made up of overseas players operating in Super League that ran from 2011 to 2013, would offer a potential solution especially given the current quality of former NRL stars here.

“You’ve got Israel Folau at Catalans and then Sonny Bill Williams at Toronto so that would definitely help get the crowds in as well,” added Whitehead, who played in the England side that lost the 2017 World Cup final to Australia.

“Hopefully, if it is an idea in the pipeline they can sort it out and get one game underway, two or even three. I do definitely feel it’d be a great idea if they could and it’d also help fans over there watch their country again.”

Although England Nines did play in Sydney last autumn ahead of the Great Britain tourists taking on New Zealand, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, England have not played a 13-a-side game since the third Test against the Kiwis at Elland Road in November, 2018.

They suffered an embarrassing 34-0 loss that afternoon but – with Whitehead ever-present – had already won the opening two Tests to claim the Baskerville Shield.

If an Exiles fixture did materialise again – and the RFL would need it to be financially viable to help offset the economic loss of losing three Tests – Whitehead could potentially end up facing his former Canberra team-mate Aidan Sezer. The gifted half-back helped Raiders reach a first Grand Final in 25 years last season before moving to Huddersfield Giants as the West Yorkshire club’s first ‘marquee’ signing.

Having been made captain, Sezer proved an instant hit, helping Huddersfield win four of their opening five games.

Whitehead, who featured as Canberra won on their return from the shutdown last weekend, said: “Seze was playing well before it all got called off over there.

“I’ve been watching their games when I can but he’s back in Sydney now while things settle down (with Covid-19). I’m sure he’ll be back over soon ready to get his head back down for when Super League does start again.

“I speak to a few of the boys back home and with the England lads. Hopefully, the restrictions will be lifted soon and when it’s safe to do so and they can kick on again like we have here.”

Whitehead, 30, hopes home-town Bulls can fight their way back into Super League, having been relegated the season after he joined Catalans in 2013.

He said: “They are a great club with a lot of history. They’ve had a bad couple of years but, hopefully, are on the way back now.

“They’ve got some good young kids there. I still speak to (Bulls head of youth) Leigh Beattie quite often and he has a lot of good things to say about them. Hopefully they can carry on rebuilding and get back up there in the next couple of years - and then I might come back!”

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