Calls for Shaun Wane to stay as England coach despite World Cup heartache

SHAUN Wane should stay as England coach and build on what was laid during the recent Rugby League World Cup, says his assistant Andy Last.

And the number two wants to be part of things going forward, even though Rugby Football League chiefs have not given an indication of when they will make a decision.

Shaun Wane should stay as England coach, even though his side failed to reach the World Cup final, says Andy LastSWPIX.COM

Last revealed he and Wane had given their reviews of what worked and what did not as the hosts were defeated 27-26 in golden point extra time by Samoa in last year’s semi-final.

Many see that as a failure but Last, who has been teased by Castleford boss Lee Radford – part of Samoa’s staff and received a hero’s welcome in the Pacific nation, feels they should stay on.

He said: “Hopefully Shaun will get the opportunity to continue the job that he’s been doing and I’d love to be part of it.

“We started the work in 2020, had a good year in 2021 and the World Cup – even though we didn’t win it, which we wanted to do – showed some real positives in terms of performance.

“There’s been no timescales. We did an internal review and spoke about things we thought worked well and things we need to improve on but I’m not sure when decisions will be made.

“We probably had a bad 40 minutes in the entire tournament but at the top end of international sport, you can’t afford to have any poor spells. You’ve got to be on from minute one to minute 80.

“But I learned loads from Shaun and other members of the coaching staff and a big thing was learning from international players, high profile players.

“I picked their brains over lunch and breakfast, in the team room, and speaking to them about different aspects of the game.”

Last, who works alongside Radford at the Tigers, believes working with England helped him as a coach.

Now he will try and instil the same mindset he found with the national side into his club’s players – with one man’s attitude in particular blowing him away.

England lost their semi-final to Samoa 27-26 in extra timeSWPIX.COM

He added: “Chris Hill would put himself in a real dark place on a Monday, doing extras on his conditioning – then he’d follow it up with a conditioning session at the end of our field session.

“It was to put himself in the headspace to perform at the level he did. I’d go as far as to say he was the best player in the England set-up.

“What I took from it was that the best players work hard. They’re always doing their extras, are constantly looking at video and the opposition, trying to find that edge.

“There’s no secret to the top players’ success, it’s the appetite for working hard and getting better. That was a real eye opener.

“If I can use that experience and tell some of the guys at Castleford to keep working hard, sharpening their tools and perfecting their craft, that’s the biggest thing I’ll take.”