FOUR members of Saints' Grand Final winning squad have been included in the 24-man Great Britain squad for the tour to New Zealand.

But four more - who would have expected a call - have been ruled out with injury.

St Helens Star:

Full back Lachlan Coote, half back Jonny Lomax and Luke Thompson and Alex Walmsley have been rewarded for their contribution to Saints’ first title-winning season since 2014 with a call-up to the first Great Britain squad since 2007.

However, four others are injured with Morgan Knowles, James Roby, Tommy Makinson and Mark Percival ruled out.

The squad will be skippered by former Saints captain James Graham.

“It’s very emotional for me," said Graham of the prospect of leading Great Britain for the first time.

"It will have a history and tradition, and it’s something that resounds with the fans and our sport. They will be four incredibly difficult matches, but the difficulty rating was always going to be high. It’s a challenge for us, but as a group I think we’re going to grow into that challenge.”

St Helens Star:

Wayne Bennett, the Great Britain and England head coach, said of Graham: “No-one plays with more pride and passion than he does for his country, I can tell you.”

Of the selection more generally, Bennett added: “It was pretty tough actually, with a lot of players in contention. A couple of guys got injured and that’s taken a bit of the pressure off, and given a couple of other guys opportunities.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good squad which is more than representative of the best players in the game in England and Australia.”

St Helens Star:

Great Britain will play four Tests on consecutive Saturdays on their first trip to the southern hemisphere since the 2006 Tri-Nations series – against a Tongan Invitational XIII in Hamilton on October 26, followed by two matches against New Zealand in Auckland and Christchurch, and ending on November 16 in Port Moresby with a first Test in Papua New Guinea since 1996. All four matches will be shown live on the BBC.

Great Britain squad for 2019 Rugby League Lions tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea

James Graham (St George Illawarra Dragons, Blackbrook; captain)

Blake Austin (Warrington Wolves, Doonside Roos)

John Bateman (Canberra Raiders, Bradford Dudley Hill)

Tom Burgess (South Sydney, Dewsbury Moor)

Daryl Clark (Warrington Wolves, Fryston Warriors)

Jake Connor (Hull FC, Siddal)

Lachlan Coote (St Helens, Windsor Wolves)

Oliver Gildart (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)

Zak Hardaker (Wigan Warriors, Featherstone Lions)

Jackson Hastings (Salford Red Devils, Western Suburbs Red Devils)

Ryan Hall (Sydney Roosters, Oulton Raiders)

Chris Hill (Warrington Wolves, New Spring Lions)

Josh Hodgson (Canberra Raiders, East Hull)

Jack Hughes (Warrington Wolves, Golborne Parkside)

Josh Jones (Salford Red Devils, Blackbrook)

Jonny Lomax (St Helens, Orrell St James)

Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants, Deighton Juniors)

Joe Philbin (Warrington Wolves, Culcheth Eagles)

Luke Thompson (St Helens, Bold Miners)

Jake Trueman (Castleford Tigers, West Bowling)

Alex Walmsley (St Helens, Dewsbury Celtic)

Elliott Whitehead (Canberra Raiders, West Bowling)

Gareth Widdop (St George Illawarra Dragons, Kings Cross)

George Williams (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)

Great Britain Tour Schedule (all matches live on BBC TV)

Saturday October 26: v Tongan Invitational XIII (Hamilton)

Saturday November 2: v New Zealand (Eden Park, Auckland)

Saturday November 9: v New Zealand (Christchurch)

Saturday November 16: v Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)