Aaron Woods has again found himself in the headlines after taking aim at another high-profile coach, this time England boss Shaun Wane ahead of the opening Ashes Test at Wembley Stadium.
The former Kangaroos prop mocked Wane’s team talk during the week, joking that it was so dull it could put fans to sleep.
"Fair dinkum, can you wake me up?" Woods said on Triple M.
"Listening to that, are you kidding? No wonder they haven't won the Ashes in so long."
Wane fires back
The comments made their way across the world to London, where Wane was quick to return serve when asked about the jibe in an interview with Nine’s Michael Chammas.
"Who's that?" Wane said with a grin.
"I know he's paid to be controversial. I wouldn't have thought he'd genuinely meant it.
"He called me boring, did he? That's up to him. I watched him play as well."
Wane, who has been in charge of England since 2019, brushed off the criticism but admitted the remarks hadn’t gone unnoticed among his squad.
"He comes out with his comments and he's entitled to his view," Wane said.
"He's played in the NRL and I've never done that. Fair play. It doesn't really bother me what he says.
"I know I have an effect with my England team and hopefully you see that on Saturday."
Players take it personally
The England coach revealed the players had seen the clip and were ready to let their actions do the talking when the Ashes kick off this weekend.
"Oh yeah, it's been mentioned," he said.
"I'm not on social media but my daughter sent it to me. My daughter is very protective of me, both my daughters. They were a bit pissed off. The players were as well."
"We'll find out on Saturday, but if we do get that victory, it's going to be down to him."
Woods applauds the response
Woods, who played 270 NRL games and featured in 17 Tests for Australia, later responded to Wane’s comments on Instagram, praising how the England coach handled the situation.
"What a legend, that’s how u [sic] handle banter," he wrote.
The 33-year-old’s comments come after he clashed with Billy Slater during this year’s State of Origin series, where he famously labelled the Maroons coach a “grub”.
England will host Australia in the first Test of the Ashes series on Sunday morning (AEDT), live on Nine and 9Now.