Roosters enforcer Victor Radley - who feared a shoulder injury had ended his season in round 26 - is one of seven NRL stars in Shaun Wane’s England squad to host Samoa in Tests at Wigan and Leeds.
Ben Gardiner’s Toa Samoa touches down at Heathrow on Saturday afternoon to face an opponent that is still hurting from their epic elimination at the hands of the Pacific nation in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
Wane cut his performance squad to 24 on Wednesday with a knee injury ruling out Wigan centre Jake Wardle and 2018 Golden Boot winner Tommy Makinson excused due to long service for personal reasons.
Radley fractured his left scapula against Canberra in Round 26 and his return during the finals was considered something of a medical miracle.
He is joined by club-mate Dominic Young, Newcastle's Kai Pearce-Paul, Dolphins centre Herbie Farnworth, Canberra’s Morgan Smithies and two players who are going in the opposite direction this off-season - Tom Burgess and John Bateman.
Burgess is returning to Huddersfield in Super League after 12 seasons with South Sydney, while Bateman is on his way back to Wests Tigers after guesting with Warrington.
Gardiner reacted to the England squad by telling NRL.com: “It’s a very strong squad. We’ve just had our staff put together a bit of a [possible starting] team list and yeah, it’s a very strong mix of Super League and NRL talent.
“I can see they’ve got a number of guys from the Super League grand final, which makes them fresh and ready to go.”
Super League’s Young Player of the Year, Junior Nsemba, and the competition’s top try scorer Liam Marshall, both of Wigan, are the potential debutants in the squad.
Missing from the side which beat France 40-8 at Toulouse’s Stade Ernest Wallon on June 29 are wingers Tom Johnson and Ash Handley, centre Sam Wood, hooker Brad O’Neill, back rowers Matty Nicholson and Elliott Minchella and reserves James Harrison, Tyler Dupree and Oli Wilson.
Aside from those already mentioned, others brought in to the squad are winger Matty Ashton, hooker Daryl Clark, props Ethan Havard and Chris Hill, back rower Morgan Knowles and hooker Danny Walker.
The Samoan team gathers in Sydney on Friday before flying out, with some unavailable players, such as Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu, invited to attend and show their support.
Wane said he was excited by the squad picked ahead of the two Test series.
“We know it’s going to be a tough test against the Samoans and there is already a lot of history between us from the Rugby League World Cup two years ago," he said.
“All of the players have picked based on their form over the last 12 months whether that be in the Betfred Super League or Down Under in the NRL and I’m confident heading into next week’s opener in Wigan.
“Following on from an impressive crowd at Old Trafford this past weekend, I am hoping the rugby league fans come out in numbers at both Wigan and Leeds and get behind England.”
