Gale: England needs more time together

Luke Gale says the England squad needs more time together if it is going to match Australia and New Zealand on the international stage.

Gale was part of England‘s Four Nations side this year. The Castleford halfback will head to Dubai next month for a national team camp.

Gale said he understands why many Super League coaches aren’t happy about the Dubai camp coming in the middle of pre-season, but feels England needs more preparation time as a unit ahead of the World Cup.

“I can see both sides of the story, we’ll probably have three players going in Zak and Shenny,” he said.

“Probably three key players but then I can see Wayne Bennett’s point of view as well that the england squad needs more time together.

“It probably showed in the Four Nations. We had a week’s training, played France and then we were asked to take on New Zealand in the Four Nations and we were on the back foot already.

“The team needs more time together and I think New Zealand played Australia twice last year in tests so they get a bit more time together and it probably shows that on the pitch.

“I think I’ve played twp games with Josh Hodgson, you look at the Australian combination of players and you’re on the back foot.

“The more time you spend together and the more we work on the combinations the better we’ll become as a nation.”