Ex-Leeds Rhinos & Great Britain enforcer makes 'try something different' plea to England ahead of Ashes Tests

The first of McDermott’s 15 Tests for Great Britain was the Ashes opener at the national stadium in 1994 when the hosts stunned Australia 8-4 despite playing most of the game with 12 men after Shaun Edwards was sent-off. The 53-year-old believes England can replicate that famous victory this weekend, but not if they try to match the Aussies’ style of play.

McDermott admitted he was disappointed Rhinos’ Man of Steel Jake Connor hasn’t been selected for England after an “exceptional year,” but would like to see Hull KR’s Mikey Lewis given a chance in the halves. “I would have picked him,” he said of Connor. “But he is maybe not [coach] Shaun Wane’s type of player.

“I think Shaun plays an attritional style and if you’re going to beat Australia you have to try something a bit different. If we try to play the way they play, we aren’t as good at it as they are so we need a point of difference and Jake Connor could have been it - or Mikey Lewis might be.”

Whatever happens, McDermott is delighted to see the Ashes back on rugby league’s calendar and he feels England can end 55 years of Kangaroo dominance. “It’s one of the games internationally that captures everyone’s imagination, especially over here,” he said.

“England or Great Britain against Australia are the marquee games. I was lucky enough to be involved in three Ashes series, the last one being the last time it was played, in 2003. That’s a long time ago. I do think if we can get all our best players fit and healthy and on the same page and [coach] Shaun Wane does his stuff, I’d put us in with a really good chance. I think we’ve got some tremendous players.”

McDermott will be rubbing shoulders with an old Aussie adversary over the next few weeks as he helps promote a speaking tour by one of the sport’s all-time greats, Andrew Johns. Now a pundit on Sky Sports, McDermott also works with speaking agency What Makes Them Tick who have arranged Johns’ visit.

“My involvement is in and around the business side of it,” McDermott said. “The promoting of it, the running of it and the night itself. I’ve been really fortunate over a long period of time to have many strings to my bow and this is one of them. We are trying to get speakers over to the rugby league public who are thirsty for the stories, nostalgia, banter and lessons from some of the world’s biggest stars.

“I have known Andrew Johns for a long time and I’ve got an international history with him, when he represented Australia and I represented Great Britain. But, as often happens with rugby league players when they retire, you become friends because you’ve got a shared experience. Through a mutual friend, Brian Carney, we’ve had a couple of nights out and some laughs over the things that went on.”

McDermott played against Johns for Rhinos when the Aussie great made his Warrington Wolves debut in September, 2005. Johns featured only three times in Super League, but proved too good for Rhinos in a 33-16 success when he kicked six goals and a one-pointer.

McDermott recalled: “He made such a big difference to Warrington’s team, he was an amazing, unbelievably talented player. I remember being at training that week and saying ‘one man will not make a difference, we’ll beat Warrington’. After he’d set up the first three tries, I began to realise I was wrong. He did make a difference and he beat us that night virtually on his own.” For details of Johns’ speaking tour, click here.