'Everything happens for a reason': Leeds Rhinos winger Ash Handley out to make mark after rocky road to England honours

Barring unexpected late drama, the Leeds Rhinos winger will begin his England career in earnest this afternoon when Shaun Wane's side face France in Warrington.

Given his previous experiences, Handley will not take anything for granted until he is out in the middle.

After answering an SOS from Lions boss Wayne Bennett and travelling all the way to Papua New Guinea in November 2019, Handley suffered the ignominy of missing out to half-back Blake Austin.

His only taste of international rugby league since was a fleeting appearance off the bench against the Combined Nations All Stars in Wane's first game as England coach in June 2021.

The 27-year-old missed out on last year's World Cup squad despite scoring 17 tries in 28 matches and making more metres than any other player in Super League.

But he has worked his way back into Wane's plans and will be rewarded for his perseverance this afternoon.

"Everything happens for a reason and it wasn't my time to play at that point for whatever reason," Handley told The Yorkshire Post as he looked back on his Great Britain experience.

"You learn a lot from doing stuff like that. It's pushed me on to try and be better so I'm not in that position again.

"Now I'm here I want to show I'm ready to make that jump up to the international standard and try stake a claim for a shirt. I'll do my job as I normally do for Leeds and play well for the team.

"Hopefully it'll be a memorable occasion. It'll be a special day for me and my family. I'm looking forward to it."

Handley feared his hopes of appearing in the mid-season Test were over when he sustained an untimely ankle injury in early March.

"I wasn't expecting it," he said on the call-up.

"This year has been a little bit different because I've been playing different positions and missed a few games.

"I hadn't been playing and thought he might have gone in a different direction but I'm grateful for the opportunity."

The carrot for Handley and the rest of a youthful England side is the next World Cup in France in 2025.

Handley was one of seven wingers named in Wane's original 40-man squad for the mid-season international against the French, with Tommy Makinson, Dom Young and Tom Johnstone among those in reserve.

"Obviously I wanted to be involved in the last World Cup but the competition for places is high, especially on the wing," said Handley.

"It makes you want to be better. You don't want to be one of those players on the fringes; you want to make an impact and be at the forefront of his (Wane's) mind.

"Hopefully I can do that in the future and be there at the 2025 World Cup."

Handley has scored four tries in his seven outings for Rohan Smith's inconsistent Rhinos this year.

Leeds sit eighth with a 50 per cent win rate after 10 rounds but there will be no panic at Headingley after reaching the Super League Grand Final from 11th last season.

"You don't feel the pressure as much when you've been to a place like that," said Handley. "But we'd like to be further up the table than we are now.

"We've had some pretty poor performances. If a few of those went our way, maybe it'd be a different story and we'd be further up the table.

"We've been at the worst point you can be and came back from that so I suppose we are in a better position than last year.

"Hopefully we can get a bit of consistency and knock off a few wins.

"I feel like when we're on and everyone is playing well, we can pretty much beat anybody, but then we can have days where it doesn't really go our way and we're awful.

"I'm not too sure what it's down to. You can't pinpoint anything. It's a difficult one to get your head around."

As well as another crack at Old Trafford with Leeds, Handley is eyeing England's three-Test series against Tonga at the end of the year.

"It'd be great to be involved in something like that," he added.

"He'll have a full-strength side to pick from so I need to try my best this week, play well for Leeds and put myself in contention for that series at the end of the year."