England head coach Shaun Wane has revealed he expects Mikey Lewis to play a more prominent role in this weekend’s final Ashes Test against Australia.
Lewis was restricted to just 11 minutes from the bench at Everton last weekend, leading to derision and criticism from some quarters: including Sky Sports presenter Brian Carney.
However, while Wane admitted he did not envisage any more changes to his 17 from that game outside of Joe Burgess and Harry Newman replacing Dom Young and Jake Wardle, Lewis will play a bigger part in the clash at Headingley.
Wane said: “I imagine Mikey is going to have more minutes. “There was a lot of talk about bringing him earlier in game two, but when you look at what he did, I won’t hesitate this week to bring him on earlier.”
Young has suffered a broken bone in his foot that has prematurely ended his series, while Wane has also revealed that Wardle has been playing with ‘some problems’ injury-wise that has now meant he has to miss out on the third and final game.
“Jake has had some problems. He’s done well to play in two Tests, he’s been knocked up throughout the season and quite a few players [have]. Our Super League season is so condensed, you get so many players carrying injuries into this. We play 10 games a year on average more than them, and you end up carrying lots of knocks.
“That’s what we had against Samoa and Tonga. Daryl Clark finished the Tonga series in 2023, and he had three operations. A hip, a knee and something else. It makes my admiration for them all the much better when you see how much they have a go in international camp.”
Burgess will play for England for the first time in ten years on Saturday, something Wane admits he is excited about.
He said: “He’s got a new lease of life at Hull KR. I know Budgie, he’s won me World Club Challenges and he’s a fantastic player. I’m so happy I can give him a start and everyone in our squad can get a game.”
