Six NRL players have been named in the England rugby league squad for the upcoming Ashes series against Australia, but there was no room for the most consistent player of the Super League season.

England’s 24-man squad was announced on Monday, but did not feature Leeds Rhinos halfback Jake Connor.

The Rhinos half won Super League’s Man of Steel award, the competition’s individual honour for the season’s most consistent performer, after leading his side to a top-four finish in 2025.

Rugby league Ashes returns to end lost generation

New Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters was part of an era where the green and gold jersey was the highest honour rugby league could offer and ahead of the return of the Ashes it’s a legacy he’s desperate to pass down to his players.

Connor has not played Test rugby league since representing Great Britain in 2019, and the 30-year-old will have to wait a little longer for another opportunity.

England coach Shaun Wane opted for Mikey Lewis, Harry Smith and captain George Williams as his options in the halves.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Wane said the Man of Steel award did not come into his consideration when selecting his Ashes squad.

“When I’m picking a squad, the thing you will never hear from me is ‘he’s won the Man of Steel he needs to be in’,” Wane said.

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Recognition of Reece Walsh’s breathtaking performance in the NRL grand final continues, with the Brisbane Broncos hero set to make his Test debut for Australia later this month.

“I don’t even know who picked the Man of Steel, I don’t know what goes into it. The Dream Team, I don’t even know who’s in the Dream Team, so that never comes into my reckoning. Them things that are important to other people.

“I just watch the players play and think who can do a fantastic job against Australia. It is more about form than anything else.

“We had a good chat, he’s a really good lad and I’ve lots of time for him.

“But there’s other players, other than Jake Connor, not got in this 24, and I don’t see the obsession about why every single person, the Man of Steel, it just doesn’t mean anything to me.”

A quarter of the England squad play in the NRL, with John Bateman (North Queensland Cowboys), AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights), Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders) and Dom Young (Newcastle Knights) being picked.

Brimson, who has won a State of Origin series for Queensland, has been selected after switching his allegiance to England this year.

Brimson was eligible for England through his mother, but needed the approval of the International Rugby League tribunal to switch his allegiance from Australia, another tier one nation in rugby league.

This year’s three-Test series with be the first rugby league Ashes in 22 years. 

Australia has held the Ashes since 1973, when it defeated Great Britain 2-1 in a three-Test series.

England rugby league Ashes squad

John Bateman (North Queensland Cowboys)AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans)Joe Burgess (Hull KR)Daryl Clark (St Helens)Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins)Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors)Morgan Knowles (St Helens)Matty Lees (St Helens)Mikey Lewis (Hull KR)Jez Litten (Hull KR)Mike McMeeken (Wakefield Trinity)Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos)Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos)Tom Johnstone (Wakefield Trinity)Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights)Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors)Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders)Owen Trout (Leigh Leopards)Alex Walmsley (St Helens)Jake Wardle (Wigan Warriors)Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos)Jack Welsby (St Helens)George Williams (Warrington Wolves)Dom Young (Newcastle Knights)

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