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The pantheon of players who have represented England and Great Britain in the past 22 years is a modern‑day who’s who of the game. Sam Burgess, James Graham, Sean O’Loughlin, James Roby … the list is long, storied and impressive.
You could argue there is plenty dividing those players, not least their ferocious rivalries at club level in Super League. But the one thing they have in common is that they were never able to represent their country in the most intense series of them all, the Ashes. Since 2003 the concept has been on hiatus but, finally, on Saturday it returns in some style.
Wembley will not be sold out, but there will be the biggest crowd on these shores for an Ashes Test as England and Australia renew acquaintances for the first time since the 2017 World Cup final and for the first time in a series since 2003. The second and third Tests at Everton and Headingley sold out within days.
Which raises the question: why has there been such a long gap? Outside a World Cup every four years, there is simply nothing that excites quite like England v Australia. The answer? In short, there has been little desire from Australia to have these occasions on until recently.
However, the rescheduled World Cup in 2022 proved to be a catalyst for the revival of the international game. Australia came to England, won the tournament and their players left with a renewed sense of optimism for pulling on the green and gold jersey. Since then, the annual Pacific Championships have begun and there is now a long-term international calendar in place.
This series was due to take place in 2020 before Covid-19 intervened, something the England head coach remembers well.
“I took the job in 2020 and this was the first thing, the Ashes series,” Shaun Wane says. “That got cancelled and I was absolutely wounded. The chance to play against the best team in the world … it’s got the makings of a fantastic series.”
Playing in an Ashes series is something England’s squad have spoken about with pride, given the aforementioned list of great players who never got the opportunity. But for some, there is also the opportunity to have another shot at a side that inflicted a heartbreaking defeat in their last meeting.
Australia’s 6-0 victory in the 2017 World Cup final was as close as England have come to winning the tournament since 1972. Leeds Rhinos’ Kallum Watkins was at the centre of that story as he broke downfield and looked like scoring a try that could have shifted the final England’s way, but he was ankle-tapped by Josh Dugan.
The 34-year-old, who last played for England in 2022 but is in line to feature on Saturday, says: “It’s something I never thought would happen, to get the chance to be here again. I thought my last chance to play for England had gone and I definitely never thought I’d be lucky enough to play in an Ashes.
“It does excite me to get another go at them again. They’re an incredible team, but I think we can match them. It’s long overdue for the game to have something like this and you’ve got to make it really special and make the three venues real fortresses.
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“That 2017 final could have given us the best opportunity to do something special, but this is another one of those opportunities.”
The flames have already been stoked in terms of the pre-match buildup. The former Australia prop Aaron Woods said last week that England could not beat New Zealand, Samoa or Tonga, let alone the Kangaroos: an odd claim given England have whitewashed the Samoans and Tongans in the past two years.
The working school of thought is that England need to win at Wembley to stand a chance in the series, with it being their best chance of catching the tourists cold.
Whatever the outcome, however, this represents a watershed moment not just for English rugby league – which should generate some positivity irrespective of the score – but the international game as a whole with a World Cup due in Australia next year.
Whether it is the 2017 World Cup final or just the chance to walk a path the modern-day greats were not fortunate enough to take, the hosts are clearly not short of motivation.
