Yes sir, I boogie
JAKE TO SHOW WANE MOVES HE’S MISSING
JAKE CONNOR aims to thrust himself into England World Cup contention – by embarrassing his own country.
Connor has five England caps to go alongside three for Great Britain and has been one of the form players in the competition this year for Hull FC.
But he has been overlooked by national boss Shaun Wane (inset) in favour of Sam Tomkins and tomorrow night will play against England for the Combined Nations All Stars.
It is a prospect the 26-year-old is relishing.
Connor said: “It got brought up a couple of weeks ago in a conversation and I liked the idea of it.
Knowing that I wasn’t going to be in that England squad, I thought, ‘Why not?’
“I want to play on the best stages and this will be a big test.
“I had one conversation with Shaun the other day – it was a personal conversation but it was around what I can do to put my foot in the door for England.
“I know what I’ve got to do, I’ve got to keep playing well and hopefully at the back end of the year I can force my way in there.
“Playing against England will be a bit weird but you want to play in the big games.” Connor credits club coach Brett Hodgson with his improved consistency this season after he put his faith him at full-back rather than continually switching positions. Ironically that could work against him for England, with Wane backing his former Wigan No.1 Tomkins so far.
But Connor insists that does not faze him.
“I said I wanted to play where I get the ball most – and full-back is that position,” said Connor. “There’s great full-backs in the competition and it will be tough to pick one out but I’m concentrating on club level and trying to get to that Grand Final.
“Sam’s a great player but I need to focus on myself.”
Connor also revealed another motivation to represent the All Stars team – his grandad is from Trinidad.
And he believes Tim Sheens’ side has the ability to trouble England, despite a host of prematch issues over player availability.
He added: “We’re going to throw the ball around a bit and there’s a lot of talent in this team.
“We can cause England problems with the players we’ve got. We can get the job done.”