Hull KR’s Ryan Hall hopes to pull on Rob Burrow-inspired England jersey in Test
RYAN Hall needs no motivation to pull on an England shirt – but Rob Burrow has provided it.
For the Hull KR winger would love nothing more than to honour his former Leeds team-mate when the nation plays France next month.
Tens of thousands of pounds have already been raised for the Motor Neurone Disease Association by fans snapping up the one-off design.
And the veteran hopes to play his way into Shaun Wane’s side and do it for a pal.
“It definitely is motivation,” said Hall. “And going back to 2011, it’s my favourite style of England shirt.
“It’s something a bit different to your standard one and the connection with the MNDA and Rob, a longstanding team-mate of mine who everyone knows what he’s going through, is great.
“But that’s typical rugby league. If someone’s in need or is going through a bad time, the sport gets behind them.
“No matter our circumstances, we’ll lend them a hand.
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“I welcome Shaun staying. He set out with an obvious goal, to win the World Cup and we had the team and style of play to do it.
“It’s just that semi-final against Samoa saw our worst performance – we couldn’t have done it on a worse stage. It just didn’t go to plan.”
Hall faces Warrington flyer Matty Ashton as the sides meet tonight.
And the 35-year-old admits the standard of wingers in Super League – with plenty of contenders – is better.
Hall added: “It’s great to see more wingers doing it. Rugby league is about expressing yourself and not everyone’s going to be the same.
“Everyone’s being themselves and they’re doing more than just the flying finishes.
“Pretty much every winger’s helping their side come out of defence and you’ve got to be a very good standard to play for England. We’re seeing quite a lot of that in Super League.
“And the games are more intense, it’s been right up there. Last season, games had not much going on or were low intensity but I’ve not seen anything of that so far this year – that’s how it should be.
“You want games to be that intense, do or die situation. That’s great for the sport and it helps England as more players are used to it.
“But I’ve been me for 17 years, I don’t think you’re going to get anything devastatingly new out of me. I’m just going to keep doing what I do.
“And I’ll never retire from England. My mentality is, ‘If England want me to play and need my services, I’m more than happy to go and do that.’
“If the coach thinks there’s someone better to do the job that puts England in a better position that’s fine.”
Meanwhile, Andy Last wants to become full-time boss of Castleford – and rebuild that connection with their fans by getting back to the ‘Classy Cas’ tag.
The number two is leading the Tigers in the interim after Lee Radford left by mutual consent, with him believed to have had disagreements with club bosses.
Three defeats from three leave only Wakefield keeping them off the bottom of Super League but Last has thrown his hat into the ring, making a permanent appointment more likely.
He said ahead of tonight’s trip to Huddersfield: “I want the job, I’m ready to be a head coach. It’s something I definitely want to consider.
“But we need to make that real connection with the supporters, they want to see a team that gives its all and plays a certain way.
“The fact we had a zero next to us against Wigan and only scored one try against St Helens didn’t help. When you look in history, it won’t say we created loads of chances, it just says we scored one try.
“We need to nail those opportunities and the ‘Classy Cas’ tag will come to fruition.
“And the players will decide whether I get it with their performances, turning good showings into results. I’ve spoken to them about having confidence in what they’re able to do.”
Last denied reports Jake Mamo is heading out of Castleford and hopes his reign starts better than it did at Hull FC in 2020.
“We lost to Salford by 50!” he quipped. “Hopefully it goes better than that!”