Ryan Hall believes current English wingers’ class may end his Test career
RYAN Hall admits he is delighted to see so many wingers reaching England level – even though they are likely to cost him his international rugby league career.
The Hull KR ace was almost an automatic selection in the past after brilliant performances for Leeds.
Now with the autumn’s Samoa series and next year’s Ashes tour – which may yet be under the Great Britain banner – boss Shaun Wane has many options.
Dom Young is dominating NRL defences while Tommy Makinson, Tom Johnstone, Ash Handley and Liam Marshall have shown their class in Super League – in different ways, be it with pace, strength or positioning.
And despite the consequence of not playing, no-one is happier than Hall – Super League’s and England’s record try scorer.
The 36-year-old said: “When a coach leaves, the strapline is normally ‘I left it in a better place than I found it’ – it’s similar for me with the England set-up.
“I’ll never retire from England, but I don’t know if I’ll play again because of the calibre of players and the number of them.
“It’s really pleasing that I’ve left it in a better position than I found it.
MOST READ IN RUGBY LEAGUE
“And you need a mix of everything in a team – strong wingers, pacy ones and positional ones. You can’t just have the same build all the way across. That’s what makes rugby league interesting.
“Everyone’s got a place and it keeps you on your toes. In Super League, you play against different types of winger, so it keeps you nimble.”