Shaun Wane has promised to rebuild the relationship between England and Super League clubs after being given the job of coaching the national team until next year’s World Cup. The 55-year-old, who left Wigan in 2017 after winning every available domestic honour, has been named as Wayne Bennett’s replacement on a two-year deal.
Wane’s appointment – he had most recently been working part-time as a high-performance coach with Scottish Rugby – comes in the wake of Great Britain’s disastrous tour of the southern hemisphere last year, with the Rugby Football League now keen to employ a full-time national coach after Bennett, who rarely visited England due to club commitments in Australia, was not retained.
Many within the sport were critical of Bennett for seemingly not showing enough of a hands-on approach with domestic clubs and the national team: something Wane has promised he will change as an absolute priority. “The one frustration I had when I was a club coach was that I’d have done things differently,” he said. “Now I’m England coach I will do.
“I’ll not only liaise with the head coaches but with physios, coaches and the players playing for a certain club. It’s showing them the respect they deserve and making sure they’re included in everything. It’s about getting that link back.”
Wane would not be drawn too much on Bennett’s reign but he did hint at changes to give the national side the best chance of success in this year’s Ashes series and the World Cup in 2021.
“I’ll be going to more games, meeting more players and I’ll go out to Super League clubs watching them train,” he said. “I don’t know how important that was to the previous coach. I think it would’ve been had he been here but the fact is I’m here and it’s massively important.”
Wane has started work with the RFL immediately. He will decide on his backroom team in the coming days and says that, while he believes he inherits a group capable of success, he has already identified areas for improvement. “I’ve got the cream of the crop now and I don’t expect to make massive changes. It’s just certain things,” he said.
“I’m very different to the way Wayne Bennett works. I don’t know the details but I’d tweak the way he worked with players, no question. There were a few areas in which we could’ve been smarter and they’d have been quite easy fixes. They’d have been small wins but would’ve had a real beneficial impact.”
The resignation of Kevin Sinfield, the head of the England performance unit, was announced shortly after Wane’s appointment. According to the RFL, Sinfield, who was also their rugby director, stood down “to allow the RFL to follow a new direction as the national teams prepare for the 2021 World Cup”.