England coach Shaun Wane has fired back at former Kangaroos prop Aaron Woods, lighting the fuse for a fiery Ashes opener after Woods took a public swipe at the veteran coach’s motivational style.
Speaking on Triple M earlier this week, Woods took aim at Wane’s pre-match team talk, joking that the England coach was boring his players to sleep just days out from Sunday’s series kickoff.
“Fair dinkum, can you wake me up?” Woods said.
“Are you kidding? No wonder they haven’t won an Ashes in years.
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“England are getting blokes like (Gold Coast’s) AJ Brimson, who can’t make a Queensland squad or Australian team to go over there and play for them.
“Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand have a better chance of beating Australia than England.”
While Woods may have intended to stir the pot, his remarks appear to have had the opposite effect – firing up the English camp rather than deflating it.
Asked about the remarks while speaking at Wembley Stadium before the Ashes opener, Wane brushed off Woods’ jab with a laugh, but hinted his team had taken it personally.
"Who's that?" Wane said jokingly.
"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.
"He comes out with his comments and he's entitled to his view. 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."
Though Wane appeared calm, he admitted Woods’ words hadn’t gone unnoticed — not just by his players, but by his family too — hinting that they’ve become fuel for England’s motivation.
"Oh yeah, it's been mentioned," Wane stated
"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."