Canberra Raiders star Matty Nicholson has confirmed his injury struggles this season wrecked any hopes of being picked for England in the Ashes Test series against the Kangaroos.
Nicholson is one of two Raiders forwards who’ve been overlooked in Shaun Wane’s Test squad, with the England coach explaining his selections after announcing a 19-man squad for the first Test against Australia.
Wane named his England team on Thursday for the Ashes opener at Wembley on Saturday night (Aussie time), with Morgan Smithies’ omission coming as arguably the biggest shock. The England coach has opted to go with Dolphins-bound lock Morgan Knowles instead, following a superb season in the English Super League with St Helens.
Smithies also enjoyed a successful season with Canberra, after helping the Raiders claim the NRL minor premiership, before they were eventually knocked out in the playoffs by Cronulla. But Wane clearly sees Knowles as the enforcer his England side needs against a formidable Kangaroos team.
Former NRL stars Adrian Morley, James Graham and Sam Burgess were some of England’s most famous enforcers, and led the forward pack superbly during their Test careers. Morley and Burgess were both NRL premiership winners with the Roosters and Rabbitohs, respectively. Burgess famously won the Clive Churchill Medal after playing on with a fractured cheekbone in South Sydney’s 2014 grand final win.
Graham also featured in two grand finals for the Bulldogs and was renowned as a fierce competitor for both club and country, having played 51 games for the Dragons in the NRL as well. Knowles has a similar profile to those legendary English hardmen, and is expected to start at lock after Smithies was left out of the squad.
