England will be ready this time to grab World Cup glory says Leeds Rhinos star

The Leeds Rhinos star is an ambassador for the competition that arrives here next year.

Like many, he was excited by this week’s announcements when, marking 500 days to the tournament start, nations learned in which towns and cities they will stay, with Hull, Doncaster, York, Leeds and Sheffield among those involved.

Yet, equally so, it is hard not to recollect at the same time that 2017 final when Gale, named Steve Prescott Man of Steel having led Castleford to a maiden League Leaders’ Shield and Grand Final, featured against holders Australia in Brisbane.

Everyone knows what happened next; England, led by Sam Burgess and looking to be the first side from these shores to lift the Cup since Great Britain in 1972, came agonisingly close.

In one of the tightest affairs in the competition’s history, Wayne Bennett’s side eventually lost by a scoreline of just 6-0, missed chances costing them dear in their first final in 22 years.

Indeed, three years on, it is still hard not to think that it was a glorious chance gone begging to at last end that irksome barren run.

However, as painful as that near-miss was, prolific Yorkshireman Gale maintains they will now be in a better position to capitalise next year.

“First of all, it was amazing to play in a World Cup final,” he recalled to The Yorkshire Post.

“You learn from those defeats. What a massive opportunity we had to do it on the biggest stage of all. We did fall short at the final hurdle and it was tough to take.

“But I’m a massive believer in how you have to learn something from experiences like those.

“Then, the next time you’re in those situations you do things a little bit differently and you’ve learned from being in that arena before. You take that to the next stage and – if I get chance – that’s what I’d intend to do.”

England have been taken over by Shaun Wane this year although the former Wigan Warriors coach might not get chance to even look at his side in action before the tournament start given this autumn’s three Test Ashes series against Australia has been cancelled due to coronavirus.

Fit and firing again with new club Leeds after missing much of the last two seasons injured with Castleford, Gale is in Wane’s initial plans and has spoken to him via Zoom during lockdown.

The former Bradford Bulls captain, who turns 32 later this month, added: “Obviously, the Ashes being called off is a disappointment but one we kind of knew was coming.

“Shaun and his team will now be on the look-out for a new opponent to give us a test before we do take on that World Cup.

“But the Aussies are in the same boat (with no games) and they have a lot of new players in.

“For so many years we’ve seen the same combinations year in, year out, tournament after tournament. It’s been the same team.

“But they’re in a changing of the guard at the moment and they’ll be keen on getting a few warm-up games as well.

“It is exciting now talking about the 2021 World Cup. (CEO) Jon Dutton and his team have done a fantastic job, first of all with a little rebrand that we saw this week.

“I love how they’ve done the emblem; it unites the three tournaments (men’s, women’s and wheelchair) into one which is fantastic. How they revealed the training bases was great, too, and I suppose it makes it all more real; 500 days means we have it in sight and it’s not too far away, especially now we all know where our bases are.”

England, of course, will be based in Manchester alongside the Kangaroos which might stoke up that rivalry a little further.

Gale has been helping distribute the record £10m of government funding, delivered by the RFL and Sport England, made available to improve facilities for local clubs and players in the CreatedBy RLWC2021 Capital Grants Programme.

“Not only is it going to hopefully be the biggest and best World Cup ever, and the most viewed, the part I’m involved with is the ‘CreatedBy’ scheme,” he said.

“I’m super proud of what they’ve done with that – bringing communities together at grassroots level. I’ve handed so many grants out recently and helped on so many – be it facilities, changing rooms or new pitches.

“It’s massively important, not just for the tournament but for after it’s been and gone, that we’ve got the foundations this World Cup has given us to these grassroots areas. I grew up playing rugby league at that grassroots level so know how much young boys and girls will find it beneficial.”

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