England’s coach, Steve McNamara, believes basing his side at St George’s Park before the November Test series against New Zealand is what was needed to help them move to the next level.
England have been based at Loughborough in recent years, but they will move to the home of the national football team in Burton-upon-Trent before their international programme and will share the facilities with Roy Hodgson’s players during that period.
McNamara believes that although their previous camp had merit, the move will help give his team the best possible chance of victory against the Kiwis, the top-ranked international team in the world who defeated England in the semi-finals of the World Cup two years ago.
“I can’t speak highly enough about what Loughborough did for our programme,” McNamara said. “We speak about England having an identity and it was part of creating that identity.
“We’ve done really well and progressed a lot, but if we want to win we need to find a little bit more. It’s our duty of care to provide the very best opportunities for the players to stand a chance of winning, and by moving to St George’s Park I believe we’ve done that.
“It’s brand new. The standard of the facilities is world-class and the fields we’ll be training on will be exceptional. It’s very close-knit, it involves sharing best practice with some of our other national teams, and it’s England branded. I’ve been looking at this for a length of time; it wasn’t right 12 months ago but it’s right now. It’s got a great feel about it.”
McNamara will encourage his players to work with footballers. “They’re there when we’re preparing for game three against New Zealand,” he said. “There are plenty of other sides we’ll mix with too, and it’s just got such a good buzz about it. For us to work in partnership with the Football Association is good for English sport, never mind English rugby league.
“I’ve met Roy Hodgson before and built up a good working relationship with him. It’ll be a great opportunity for their players to experience what rugby league players do. I’m encouraging our players to engage in conversation with players from other sports, and they’ll certainly get the opportunity to do that.”
McNamara’s future has been a major talking point as he is out of contract after the series. His deal as assistant coach of NRL’s Sydney Roosters expires at the end of this year. However, he is in no rush to sort out his future and gave no hint over whether he’d be open to stay on as national coach, a role he has held since 2010.
He said: “I’m really open-minded. I’m comfortable with my current situation in terms of where I am contract-wise working with the RFL.
“I just want to concentrate on getting the job done this year, and all the options that are in front of me I’ll think about at an appropriate time. I’m just wanting to achieve something with England. I’ve not made a decision over which way my career will go beyond the end of this season.”
