England ready to stick it to doubters in Ashes, declares Shaun Wane

Shaun Wane is preparing for the biggest series of his England tenure. (Photo: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

placeholder image — Shaun Wane is preparing for the biggest series of his England tenure. (Photo: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

Shaun Wane has told England's doubters that they are fuelling his side's fire ahead of Saturday's Wembley opener against Australia.

The hosts have largely been written off in the build-up to the first Ashes series since 2003, with former Kangaroo Aaron Woods going as far as saying Tonga, Samoa or New Zealand would have a better chance of beating the tourists.

Wane has backed his close-knit group to prove they belong on the same stage as Australia, starting this weekend.

"It does give us added motivation," said the 61-year-old, who led England to series whitewashes over Tonga and Samoa in 2023 and 2024.

"Nobody gave us a chance against Samoa and Tonga, which is good. I like that position.

"It would be good to stick it to the doubters. I'm not on social media but I know a lot of stuff has been said.

"It feels like a club the way we're training. It feels like a Super League team. That's hard to get that club feeling in the international set-up.

"There's no Wigan, Saints, Warrington, Leeds – it's just one team. Training has gone really well. They're all ready and pumped for a game against a massive team in Australia."

England are back in the capital for the first time since their shock World Cup semi-final defeat to Samoa in 2022, which remains the only blemish on Wane's competitive record.

While the national team boss admitted he made errors during the build-up "that will never happen again", he stressed overhyping his players – a claim levelled by former England forward Jon Wilkin – was not one of them.

"He was talking rubbish," added Wane. "I thought we were underhyped. Our D wasn't good enough – that wasn't an overhyped team. We weren't giving penalties away and we weren't physical in contact. He totally got the wrong end of the stick there.

"I thought we needed to be more hyped and more physical. That's the reason why we lost.

George Williams, left, and Isaah Yeo face off at Wembley during the series launch. (Photo: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

"We'll be hyped this weekend but we need to be smart. Australia want help to get out of their end with penalties so we need to be squeaky clean and make sure our discipline is good. I want physicality but with discipline.

"They're going to be physical with us and we'll be physical with them. It's going to be a smash-up and the best team will come out in the end. I hope it's us."

Australia named their team for Wembley on Tuesday, headlined by star full-back Reece Walsh as one of four debutants.

Wane will wait until Thursday to trim his squad from 24 to 19 but admitted that he has already selected his side internally.

Shaun Wane, left, chats to Dom Young during a training session. (Photo: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

"I've got my 17," he said.

"We've trained really well and I'm confident and happy. We look slick, we look intense. I'm looking forward to Saturday."

Australia's star-studded team boasts talent such as half-backs Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster, as well as 2022 World Cup top tryscorer Josh Addo-Carr.

"It's very strong as I would expect," added Wane. "The whole 24 has got cover in every position and the 17 that Kevin (Walters) has picked is just what we expected. It's the best team in the world and we need to prepare well."