Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns says he’s worried about England ahead of the first Ashes Test at Wembley Stadium this weekend.
The man affectionately known as ‘Joey’ fears a 3-0 whitewash to the Aussies and, despite wanting Kevin Walters’ men to retain the Ashes, he knows how important a strong England is for the international game.
Johns was coaching players from the Warrington Wolves’ academy at Sydney Olympic Park earlier this week, and said he wanted the Ashes to be competitive.
‘The game is flying here, it’s flying in New Zealand, the Pacific nations are just getting bigger, but we (also) need England to be strong,’ Johns said.
‘This Ashes series is so important for the game over there. They will be physical, but it will be a matter of whether they have the class to win.
‘When you talk about Reece Walsh, Cam Munster, Nathan (Cleary) and Harry (Grant), that’s up there with the best spine Australia has (ever) had. But we need England to be more than competitive.’
Rugby league great Andrew Johns offered some young Warrington players a few pointers in Sydney this week
Johns said the results of this year’s Ashes series are vital to the state of the game in England
Johns won two premierships at Newcastle in 1997 and 2001 in a decorated NRL career
Johns also dismissed rumours he was keen to explore head coaching, after his brother, Fox League identity Matthew, stated a few years ago that he would make a great coach in the NRL.
The two-time premiership winner said he ‘wouldn’t do it to myself or my family.’
‘There’s no way I’d handle it. I didn’t handle it that well when I was playing. When things are out of your control (on game day), I have no interest,’ he said.
Johns, who enjoyed a short stint at Warrington in the Super League in 2005, explained the club reached out to him to give their younger players a few pointers.
His main focus was helping the halves with their posture while ball playing.
Warrington’s next generation are in Australia on a tour and beat the Western Rams 50-10 last weekend in Penrith.
They will play two more games against a representative NSW team and a Gold Coast academy side as well as have opposed sessions against junior teams from the Bulldogs and Dolphins.
It comes as former NRL prop Aaron Woods dished up a brutal swipe at England’s coach Shaun Wane ahead of the first Test, which kicks off on Sunday at 12.30am AEST.
Johns played 26 Tests for the Kangaroos from 1995 to 2006, alternating between hooker and halfback
Andrew Johns also enjoyed a short stint with the Warrington Wolves in 2005 (pictured, against the Leeds Rhinos)
Woods, who won 17 caps for the Kangaroos between 2014 and 2018, bluntly refused any notion that England could beat Australia.
Wane was recently pictured delivering a rousing speech to his squad, in which he attempted to galvanise his team to victory, noting how long it’s been since his side claimed a series victory.
‘This is a chance and an opportunity that you can’t miss,’ Wane said to his players.
‘The idea of this meeting is to make it absolutely crystal clear to you what you need to do to make sure that you’re all in.
‘Can you imagine what it feels like to win the Ashes? It’s massive. It might never happen again in your playing career.’
In response to hearing the clip, Woods shot a brutal dig at Wane, appearing to claim his motivational talk was boring.
‘Can you wake me up?’ Woods replied bluntly on Triple M.
‘Are you kidding? You wonder why they haven’t won an Ashes in that long.’
Wane fired back: ‘I know that he’s paid to be controversial. I wouldn’t have thought he’d genuinely meant it. That’s up to him. I watched him play as well. He comes out with the comments and he’s entitled to his view.
‘He’s played in the NRL and I’ve never done that. Fair play. It doesn’t really bother me what he says. I know I have an effect with my England team and hopefully you see that on Saturday,’ he said.
