England call for Leeds Rhinos' Ash Handley - but Castleford Tigers' Liam Watts and Reece Lyne of Wakefield Trinity drop out

Handley - who is Betfred Super League's top try scorer, with 14 - will be invited to the England squad's first meeting under Wane, after coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Wane has remained in regular contact with a group of players who were selected for an initial get-together at Old Trafford in March, only for it to be cancelled because of the original national lockdown.

Handley has now joined that selection, along with Warrington Wolves' Toby King, but Wakefield Trinity centre Reece Lyne and Castleford Tigers prop Liam Watts have been stood down.

Other players dropping out are Warrington's Josh Charnley, Chris Hill and Jack Hughes and the Hull pair of Josh Jones and Scott Taylor.

Leeds' Harry Newman retains his place, despite a broken leg, alongside Rhinos captain Luke Gale.

Tom Johnstone is now Wakefield's only inclusion and Paul McShane will fly the Castleford flag.

Handley, 24, toured Papua New Guinea with England Knights in 2018 and represented England in the World Nines in Sydney last autumn.

He was then called into the Great Britain squad for their southern hemisphere tour, but did not play a game.

He was joint-second on Super League's try chart last year and has touched down 20 times in all competitions this term.

He captained the team and scored two tries in Leeds' win at Wakefield last weekend.

Wane said: “I’ve always said I would pick players on form and I think it’s important to show that.

“We’ve seen some fantastic rugby since the season restarted in August, and I thought last Friday’s game between St Helens and Wigan was the best yet.

“Toby King and Ash Handley have been two of the lads who have really impressed me with their performances and consistency, so it’s right they are recognised for that and they know they are in the group I’ll be contacting regularly until we can get together properly."

The former Wigan boss added: “Some other players have fallen below the standard of performance I need from my England players, so again it’s right that they have been told that as things stand I don’t regard them as part of the group.

“But they know the door isn’t closed – it’s up to them how they respond.”

The updated list of players who will be invited to a first physical gathering as soon as possible after the end of the Betfred Super League season is: Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Toby King (all Warrington Wolves), Niall Evalds, Dan Sarginson, Kallum Watkins (all Salford), Liam Farrell, Oliver Gildart, Zak Hardaker, Dom Manfredi, John Bateman (all Wigan Warriors), Luke Gale, Harry Newman, Ash Handley (all Leeds Rhinos), Josh Griffin (Hull FC), Tom Johnstone (Wakefield Trinity), Jonny Lomax, Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival, James Roby, Alex Walmsley, Morgan Knowles (all St Helens), Paul McShane (Castleford Tigers), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants), Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons).

NRL players Luke Thompson (Canterbury), Herbie Farnworth (Brisbane), George Williams, Elliott Whitehead, Josh Hodgson, Ryan Sutton (Canberra) and Tom Burgess (South Sydney) are also included.

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