I've a good chance of staking an England claim - McNally
Last updated 12:07, Wednesday, 16 July 2008
England prospect Gregg McNally boards a plane for Australia tonight determined to seize his international chance Down Under.
The Whitehaven scrum-half, who has made the No 7 shirt his own since bursting on to the scene with a hat-trick on debut in the televised win over Salford in May, is the only tourist in the 22-strong party from outside a Super League club.
But he feels he has as good a chance as any of staking his England claim.
“Everyone’s got a clean slate and we’ll see how it goes when we get over there,” said the 17-year-old. “I feel the same as the rest of them.
“We’ll go with a basic game plan that I think will be effective. It’s looking good. I can’t wait, it’s probably going to be the best experience of my life.”
McNally has attended a string of England training sessions with his new team-mates and is one of the few to have broken through to first-team level, albeit at an NL1 club.
And he’s had plenty of words of wisdom from Recre team-mates since breaking in to the first-team.
“I’ve had a lot of advice from the senior players, and that’s really helped with my game,” he added.
McNally revealed that he did not believe it when first told of his international call-up.
“I wasn’t in when they first rang about it, and when my dad told me I thought nothing of it,” he continued.
“I thought it was a wind-up. Later when I found out I thought, ‘Oh my God, Australia!’”
England face Brisbane Broncos next week ahead of two Tests against the Australian Schoolboys.
