Willie Peters has responded to Shaun Wane’s reservations about Dean Hadley, insisting the Hull KR man absolutely could hack a test series with the Ashes.
Hadley was not included in Shaun Wane’s latest Performance Squad for the Ashes despite his impressive form and while the England boss admitted Hadley was a player on his watchlist, he did air some reservations.
“He could probably hack it, but he might not hack it,” Wane said. “That’s just my personal choice.”
Since his arrival at Sewell Group Craven Park, Peters has been Hadley’s biggest advocate. In response to Wane’s comments, he countered with a positive appraisal of the experienced forward.
“I saw Shaun’s comments surrounding Dean Hadley, saying he’s not sure whether he’d hack it or not,” Peters said. “That’s something I know Dean would be able to do regardless of who he’s playing against – if it’s Australia, Samoa, Wigan or Huddersfield. He does it every week and he’s our first player picked every week because he plays physical and the way he competes is as good as anyone in the competition.
“I know if he did play against the Australians, Nathan Cleary on last plays would be feeling the heat from Dean Hadley. When middles are getting tired, I know who would be cleaning up: it would be Dean Hadley.
“I believe he would hack it and I thought he would have been in the squad. I can’t comment on the others because I’m not sure of reasons why but we would have liked a couple more.”
Wingers Joe Burgess and Tom Davies were also left out but Peters has told those disappointed not to make the cut to focus on their club form.
“They’ve just got to keep doing what they’re doing,” Peters said. It’s disappointing for players who aren’t in and I believe in terms of the squad, not necessarily the 17, I would have liked to have thought we’d have a few more numbers in there as well.”