Litten is set to start for England.
Hull KR star Jez Litten is set to start for England in the second Ashes Test against Australia on Saturday. Shaun Wane’s side host the Kangaroos once again, with the series heading north after Wembley to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Litten came off the bench for England in North London and put in an encouraging display – and that performance is now set to hand the Hull-born dummy-half a start in the hooker position. The 27-year-old will replace Daryl Clark on Merseyside, with Wane revealing a tough conversation with the St Helens hooker.
Asked about Litten starting in a media event this Thursday, Wane said: “He’ll bring energy. He’s good out of nine and kicks well. I thought he played really well off the bench. He gave us a good lift. He’s without a doubt been the best nine this year. He went into that game as the best nine in the comp and came on and backed that up.”
And on telling Clark he was dropped from the team, Wane explained: “That was a tough one. That wasn’t an easy conversation. If someone isn’t paying well, I find them quite easy, but that was a hard one. I like him and he did nothing wrong, which is even harder, and I rate him very highly. I’ve always picked Daz, but we have to win on Saturday, end of.
“There’s desperation. We have to win. We carry the weight of rugby league fans in this country on our shoulders. I like the pressure and I’m looking forward to what we do on Saturday.”
Elsewhere, Wane is set to start Harry Smith in the halves alongside captain George Williams, with Mikey Lewis playing a role on the interchange, something he has done in previous Test series for England. AJ Brimson is also set to replace Jack Welsby at full-back.
On Smith’s return, with the half sitting out the first Test, Wane said: “We’ll have a bit more focus and a bit more direction on how and where we finish our attacking sets and where we start our defensive sets.
“We didn’t have control of that at Wembley. Hopefully, this Saturday is a bit different. The organisation side of things will be crucial.
“Mikey is a great player with a great kicking game. He performed great at the back end of the year in Grand Finals. He can play hooker off the bench. That’s another position Mikey can play. He covers nine. He can play six, seven, and one. We’re trying to look for a really balanced 17.”
And on Brimson, Wane added: “The way AJ has trained and what he brings to a team has been outstanding. I’m excited to see him.”
Wane also confirmed the reasoning for his other changes, with Kallum Watkins and Morgan Smithies coming in. They are likely to replace Ethan Havard (tactical) and John Bateman (injury).
“I just didn’t get enough of what I thought I needed from Ethan,” Wane admitted. “That’s another one. It’s a gut feeling. We’ve got 24 people in the squad and I’m training to use everybody that is going to give it the best shot.”
On Bateman, Wane said: “He rolled his ankle slightly the other day. It’s not bad, but he struggled to train. He did the session but his acceleration was a bit laboured. I just thought it was too big of a risk to lose a back rower. We need two really fit back rowers playing.
“He’s struggled with it before Wembley and it’s progressively got worse. He should be fit for the third Test.”
Wane has plenty of options now to replace Bateman in the back row. He added: “Kai (Pearce-Paul) can play both sides and Kallum Watkins and Owen Trout have played there. Mike McMeeken can play there too. That was the reason for picking the 24-man squad – versatility.”