“It’s a dream” – Shaun Wane on leading England in the 2025 ABK Beer Ashes Series…
Shaun Wane is delighted with today’s announcement of the eagerly anticipated 2025 ABK Beer Series, as the England head coach gave his reaction to the press this morning:
“I was brought up as a kid on Great Britain, England versus Australia and the Ashes Series. I remember all the touring parties and my memories are fantastic,” Wane said passionately.
“For me personally, having a chance to be the head coach of my country, what I'm very proud of, to play against the best team in the world at all in some fantastic venues – it’s a dream.
“It’s the highlight of my coaching career, so I'm looking forward to it. It’s an amazing opportunity and my players will be prepared for it.”
England and Australia's rivalry will be reiginited this autumn, as the Ashes returns after a 22-year absence, with the last series being staged in 2003.
A revival of The Ashes was scheduled for the end of the 2020 season until COVID forced it to be cancelled, but Wane always believed a reunion between England and Australia would happen:
“I'm an optimist, I always believed it would happen when I first took the job.
“The fixtures we had coming up before COVID were unbelievable and then they obviously didn’t happen, but I was always very confident we would get this series on - and now we have.
“I can’t put into words how much I'm looking forward to it.
“We had an England meeting with the players on Monday night in Leeds and the players are absolutely so excited to get this on and put their names forward and get in the squad - so it’s given the club game a massive boost as well.
“The players will be absolutely buzzing at the news that has gone out this morning and so am I.”
With the current talent pool in the Betfred Super League, Wane admitted he has been impressed with the standard in the opening rounds – meaning he could have a selection headache for the upcoming Ashes series.
Always looking to improve, however, Wane has insisted his players must be better if they are to beat Mal Meninga's reigning World Cup winners:
“I thought we need to be a lot better. My message to the players is that we need to improve a lot and that was the gist of the England meeting on Monday night.
“We are doing some great things this year in Super League as individual players, but we must be at our best. We can't wait three weeks until before the series starts for good form. I want us to have a season where the players in the England squad are performing at their best and they look like England internationals.
“I went into technical details of positional specifics and certain skills within what we need to win a Test match, which we've already proved against Samoa and Tonga.
“The message is really, really simple. To play in an Ashes winning team in this country, we need to be really good in a lot of ways.
“I demand a lot and the play seem to relish that - they seem to enjoy it and hopefully we'll see the benefits of that in the third test!”
Seeking their first win against Australia since 1995, Wane is confident that his England squad will provide, as he also eyes up the chance for his country to win their first Ashes Series since 1970:
“I'll look to get into Everton's ground and go to Headingley having won the series and I know it's going to be really tough but that's why my demands on the players are very high and the players understand that so.
“If we do well and win this series, it won’t just be an England victory, it’ll be a Super League victory too and a victory for everybody.”
England will host the Kangaroos at the end of the season to play Tests at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on October 25, the newly built Everton Stadium on November 1 and historic Headingley Stadium in Leeds on November 8.
And Wane is full of positivity and backed the decision to host the third test and a potential series decider at AMT Headingley, speaking highly of the chosen venue:
“We played our second test against Samoa and third test against Tonga at Headingley – and what an atmosphere!" said Wane.
“The atmosphere is second to none. It's fantastic, the pitch is great and the way they looked after my team for that second and third test was impeccable. The staff behind the scenes and the detail they go into - I 100% get the decision and I'm really happy that third test is there.”
Will you be joining Wane and his England side in the 2025 ABK Beer Ashes Series?
Fans can pre-register their interest for the 2025 ABK Beer Ashes Series HERE - with the pre-registration available until Tuesday 1 April. The pre-registration window will then open to purchase tickets between Wednesday 2nd April and Sunday 13th April. Tickets will go on general sale on Monday 14th April.
