England team news.

ENGLAND coach Tony Smith yesterday insisted his World Cup plans remain open after he named an initial 13-man train-on squad for the 10-nation tournament which kicks off in Australia next month.
The 13 are drawn from the five English Super League clubs that failed to make the play-offs and will be joined by increasing numbers of other players as the top six clubs are eliminated.
Many of the names announced yesterday are unlikely to be on the plane to Australia on Wednesday October 15 and will have to settle for selection for the warm-up match against Wales at Doncaster five days earlier.
However Smith, who will take 24 players with him Down Under, said every player will be in contention for the trip before he decides the make up of his final squad on October 7.
"A lot can happen between now and the end of the season and I want to cover as many bases as possible," said Smith.
"All the players who come into the train-on squad should be aware that our plans are fluid until after the grand final."
None of the players involved in the Super League grand final on Saturday October 4 will be involved in the international against Wales and Smith is clearly hedging his bets between now and then."We can't finalise anything until after the grand final," said Smith. "For example, if Leeds and St Helens reach Old Trafford you would expect quite a few people who are going to be going to Australia to be involved."In that case, I have to have people in the squad who can do the job for us against Wales. Some of the players who play against Wales will do so knowing they aren't in the final squad because that's how it has to be.
"If Leeds or St Helens don't make the grand final I don't need as many players to fill those positions against Wales. "All the players will find out whether they're going to the World Cup in the days after the grand final, by which point we will have time to assess the fitness of everyone in the squad."There is no point in telling a player he's not going and then have to call him in because someone has been injured playing in the grand final."This is the only way I can do it and disappoint as few people as possible."
Smith's initial squad features three Huddersfield Giants players, two each from Castleford, Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers, including Peter Fox, the winger who made a try-scoring debut in the mid-season Test against France in Toulouse, and Wakefield centre Ryan Atkins.As expected, Castleford youngsters Joe Westerman and Michael Shenton are included as are Hull duo Garreth Carvell and Gareth Raynor while prop Darrell Griffin and wingers Martin Aspinwall and Hodgson comprise the Huddersfield contingent.England's coach has recognised the strides made in the capital by calling up Londoners Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Tony Clubb, who are joined by their Cumbrian-born captain Rob Purdham.Smith, the proud owner of a new UK Passport following his success in securing British citizenship, said he had faced a series of difficult decisions in drawing up his first squad, a scenario he expects to face repeatedly over the coming weeks."I didn't want to select people willy-nilly and the players I have picked are in there based on their recent form and their form over the season," said Smith."I could have gone for more but I think that with the people we will bring in through the finals series we will end up with a very competitive squad."I don't want to be too generous in selecting too big a squad. There should be a lot of prestige for players to be involved with England, regardless of whether they make the World Cup squad or not. There are probably a few boys who are disappointed that they're not in the squad but that's how it should be."

England train-on squad

Martin Aspinwall (Huddersfield), Ryan Atkins (Wakefield), Shaun Briscoe (Hull KR), Garreth Carvell (Hull), Tony Clubb (Harlequins), Peter Fox (Hull KR), Darrell Griffin (Huddersfield), David Hodgson (Huddersfield), Rob Purdham (Harlequins), Gareth Raynor (Hull), Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook (Harlequins), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Joe Westerman (Castleford).