Leeds Rhinos winger Ash Handley has big point to prove in new World Cup Nines

Handley has been selected for England, but missed out on a place in the Great Britain squad for a four-game southern hemisphere tour which follows this weekend’s 12-team tournament.

The Leeds flier – who was joint-second top try scorer in Betfred Super League this year with 22, just one behind St Helens’ Tommy Makinson – is on stand-by for the Lions, but was not named in Wayne Bennett’s 24-man group.

That was despite Makinson being ruled out after suffering a dislocated shoulder during last weekend’s Betfred Super League Grand Final.

Eleven members of England’s 16-strong Nines squad will be staying on for the tour and the 12-team tournament will be watched by the rest of the Lions and coach Bennett, before they head to New Zealand to face Tonga in a one-off Test on Saturday, October 26.

“Obviously I would have liked to be in the team,” Handley admitted of his Lions omission.

“But there’s a lot of quality in my position and it’s just the way it goes.

“The players who are in the team have got a bit more experience than me and they have proved themselves at that level.

“Hopefully I can play well in the Nines and maybe get my chance later down the line.”

Playing for England is a welcome consolation prize and Handley is happy with his progress since representing the second-string Knights in their two-Test series in Papua New Guinea last year.

“Obviously you love getting recognised for what you do for your club,” he stressed.

“It’ll be really exciting to play for England, I haven’t been part of the senior team and I’m excited for it. It is great to be part of it.”

The World Cup Nines is the first tournament of its kind and will be staged over two days at Parramatta Eels’ Bankwest Stadium, in Sydney.

England take on Wales in their opening match on Friday and face Lebanon and France on Saturday.

“I am really looking forward to it,” said Handley, who is joined in England’s squad by his former Rhinos team-mate Ryan Hall.

“It’s a new game and a new concept and I’ve never played it before. It’ll be exciting to play a different style.”

The Super League-based players in England’s squad flew to Sydney last Saturday and have had almost a week to acclimatise. The format, with four fewer players on each team, will suit pacy outside-backs and explosive finishers.

And Handley said England have been working hard in practice to get used to a different way of playing.

“We’ve been doing a few games, similar to what it’ll be like in the matches,” he added. “We’ve been playing against each other and getting a feel for it.

“Training has been tough, I had a few weeks off after Leeds’ last game and we’ve been put through our paces, but I have enjoyed being back in training.”