Four players added to England squad for World Cup warm-up
England coach Shaun Wane has added four Super League players to his squad for the World Cup warm-up against Fiji on Friday night.
Wigan trio Liam Marshall, Sam Powell and Harry Smith, along with Huddersfield centre Jake Wardle, are in his 22-man squad for the match at the AJ Bell Stadium.
They are joined by 18 members of the 24-man World Cup squad Wane announced last Friday.
Captain Sam Tomkins is not included, while John Bateman serves another match of the three-match suspension handed to him after Wigan’s play-off defeat by Leeds. He will miss England’s World Cup opener against Samoa on October 15.
Leeds prop Mikolaj Oledzki and Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees and Tommy Makinson of St Helens all sit out having played in the Super League Grand Final.
But Joe Batchelor and Jack Welsby, who also played in Saints’ historic fourth successive title win, are in the 22-man squad, along with the six NRL-based players from the World Cup squad.
Wardle, 23, played for England in the win over Combined Nations All Stars in mid-season, scoring a try, and also played for England Knights against France B last week.
Both Smith and Powell have played for England Knights, but none of the other three have represented the full team.
The game will not count as a test match, so players will not earn a cap for their appearance – but disciplinary will stand, meaning any incidents could result in players missing World Cup matches.
The match is being streamed via the Our League app, which has been rebranded to the RLWC2021 app for the tournament.
England 22-man squad v Fiji: Andy Ackers, Joe Batchelor, Tom Burgess, Mike Cooper, Herbie Farnworth, Ryan Hall, Chris Hill, Liam Marshall, Michael McIlorum, Mike McMeeken, Kai Pearce-Paul, Sam Powell, Victor Radley, Harry Smith, Marc Sneyd, Luke Thompson, Jake Wardle, Kallum Watkins, Jack Welsby, Elliott Whitehead, George Williams, Dom Young
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