Shaun Wane insists England won’t lose out after his return to Wigan as leadership and management director was confirmed.
Wane will work alongside his former Warriors no.2 Matty Peet, who has been promoted to head coach with Sean O’Loughlin and Lee Briers as his assistants.
Wane’s Wigan role is based around guiding the club’s entire staff, and he will remain in charge of the national side ahead of next year’s World Cup.
He explained: “The RFL understood after the Ashes and World Cup were called off that I need to keep very busy, and the England players will still get a lot of my time. The RFL and Wigan are both okay with it, and nobody will be neglected.
“I gave my word to Ralph (RFL chief executive Ralph Rimmer) that we’ll have a great World Cup and I’ll stand by that - it’s really important to me that the England set-up gets what I set out to do at the start. That means lots of information to the players to make sure we’re ready for the World Cup.
“Hours don’t matter to me, the more the better. That’s one thing that lockdown has taught me - I never want to retire. Keeping busy doing this is perfect.”
On the appointment of Peat, Wane said: “He was always going to be a head coach for me. He’s a smart operator, he knows the game but he’s a bit under the radar.
“I’ve spoken to many Australian coaches and rugby union coaches, and Matty’s up there with the most knowledgable sports coaches I’ve seen.
“He’s very open-minded and has a great desire to get better and improve. He’s a real student of the game. I read a lot, a great deal but he reads the double the amount I read.
“He’s sending me stuff three times a day - documentaries to watch, things like that. He’s obsessive about being a good coach and that’s what got him here. I’ve mentored him for years but I've learned more off him than he's learned from me.
“I’ve spoken to Ian (chairman Lenagan) and Rads (director Kirs Radlinksi) for months saying that he could be the one, he’s that impressive and knowledgable. I’m so glad that Ian’s seen it fit to give him the job.
“It’s a big job, being the head coach of Wigan, and for him to come from where he’s come from, being head of youth to get it, is a credit to him.
“He's got two fantastic assistants in Lee and Lockers. At the end of the day those three blokes pick the team and run everything. If Matty wants a chat with me about certain pressures then I’m always there to help him - I’ve been through everything.”
