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On this week’s podcast, Dave Woods meets members of England’s World Cup squad at their training base in Wigan. Old hands Ryan Hall and Tommy Makinson join newer faces Matty Lees, Marc Sneyd, Andy Ackers and the ‘Australian Yorkshireman’ Victor Radley to look ahead to the tournament. They discuss the pride they felt when Shaun Wane called to inform them they were in the squad and their excitement as they look ahead to the potentially pivotal clash against a very impressive Samoan side which kicks things off on Saturday 15th October.

Timecodes:

01:00 Journalist Steve Mascord and former Wigan scribe Phil Wilkinson discuss England’s chances.
05:50 Phil says he’s excited to see Shaun Wane in charge of an international team.
07:10 St Helens duo Tommy Makinson and Matty Lees say they’ve enjoyed their Grand Final success, but now they’re purely focused on England.
10:30 They discuss facing Samoa in their first game and potentially the chance to play a Samoan-filled Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge in 2023.
12:00 Record England try-scorer Ryan Hall says he’s really proud to be a part of another international squad.
14:30 He reflects on how close England were to winning the World Cup in 2017.
16:25 Salford’s Marc Sneyd and Andy Ackers admit they were both very surprised and emotional when they heard they’d been selected.
19:10 They discuss the very nervous speeches they both had to give in front of their new international team mates.
22:00 Victor Radley explains his decision to pledge his allegiance to England rather than Australia.
23:10 He talks about his Yorkshire roots and how his dad, a Sheffield Wednesday fan is looking forward to watching England play at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane!
27:10 Finally, England team manager Colin Maskell reveals his role and how a 40-year friendship with Shaun Wane got him the job.