England bolters: Who makes a late bid for a RL World Cup spot?

We are just two months out from the Rugby League World Cup and with that in mind, every Super League player will have a place on the plane to Australia in the back of their mind. <p>Back in June, new England head coach Brian McDermott announced a 38-man performance squad, including 10 uncapped players, with whom he would work over the season to get England as well prepared as they can be for the tournament come October.</p><p>Leeds Rhinos star and reigning Man of Steel Jake Connor has not played for his country in seven years and was overlooked by then England coach Shaun Wane for the 3-0 Ashes defeat at home to Australia last autumn. But now, he is back.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/competitions/super-league/fixtures"><strong>Super League fixtures & results</strong></a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/competitions/betfred-super-league/table"><strong>Super League table</strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank">Get Sky Sports</a> or <a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">stream contract-free on NOW</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12110/10952996/sky-sports-push-notifications-faq-how-to-receive-the-alerts-you-want">Choose the Sky Sports notifications you want</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12196/11933934/the-bench-a-rugby-league-podcast-from-sky-sports"><strong>Listen to The Bench, Sky's rugby league podcast</strong></a></li></ul><widget id="3"></widget><p>The 10 newbies include Wakefield Trinity's Jake Trueman and Caleb Hamlin-Uele, Wigan Warriors' Sam Walters and Zach Eckersley, Hull KR's Dean Hadley and St Helens' Harry Robertson.</p><p>But is all hope lost for those not in those 38 names? Could some players make a late surge?</p><p>Let's take a look at who has been playing their way into potentially being a late bolter for England...</p><h3>Tom Holroyd</h3> <widget id="12"></widget><p><strong>Age: </strong>25</p><p><strong>Club: </strong>Leeds Rhinos</p><p><strong>Position: </strong>Prop</p><p><strong>International caps: </strong>1</p><p>Tom Holroyd has hit incredible form in the middle-to-late stages of this season and has become the definition of super-sub.</p><p>His physicality and impact has been clear for all to see and indeed, even his head coach Brad Arthur believes he has to be considered for a place on the plane if England want a point of difference. Arthur also touted Cameron Smith for a place too.</p><p>"I think Cameron (Smith) and Tom are showing off the bench that they could provide a really good option for that team," Arthur said.</p><p>"Tom, with his impact and his aggression, and Cameron - he comes on, and he can just change the point of attack with his footwork, his pass, and his offload.</p><p>"And I just think if you're going to try and beat Australia, you're not going to be able to defend your way to victory; you're going to need to be able to score points and both of those guys can help with that."</p><p>England have a lot of options in the middle but you would not be shocked if Holroyd is on the radar now too.</p><h3>Umyla Hanley</h3> <widget id="11"></widget><p><strong>Age: </strong>24</p><p><strong>Club: </strong>Leigh Leopards</p><p><strong>Position:</strong> Centre</p><p><strong>International caps: </strong>0</p><p>Since returning from injury, Umyla Hanley has really been impressing for Leigh Leopards, especially in attack.</p><p>Indeed, he was included in the Man of Steel panels considerations for the middle part of the season then was key in Leigh's massive win over Leeds in round 23.</p> <widget id="6"></widget><p>Similarly to Arthur with Holroyd, Leigh head coach Adrian Lam has gone into bat for his man and believes that he has a big international future ahead of him.</p><p>"That tackle that he made at the end of the game on Ryan Hall to get his foot across the line- if anyone had said to me, 'someone's going to save you a try at the end of the game' - I would have said it was him, and all of his team-mates would have said it was him," Lam said.</p><p>"He's the ultimate competitor I've coached. No, he's the number one player I've coached in my life that competes better than anyone, and I challenge that to anyone in Super League."</p><h3>Oliver Partington</h3> <widget id="9"></widget><p><strong>Age: 27</strong></p><p><strong>Club: Wigan Warriors </strong></p><p><strong>Position: </strong>Back row</p><p><strong>International caps:</strong> 0</p><p>Speak to any Wigan fan and they will tell you how integral Oliver Partington has been in their 2026 Super League campaign.</p><p>A work horse, he does all the hard yards that make someone the ultimate team-mate and he is willing to put his hand up for anything.</p><p>They say that what matters in big games are not the sparkling moments but the effort areas and Partington excels in those every single time.</p><p>While he will have a lot of competition in his position, he is someone who has been a standout in 2026.</p><h3><strong>Matty Nicholson</strong></h3><p><strong>Age: </strong>23</p><p><strong>Club: </strong>Canberra Raiders</p><p><strong>Position: </strong>Back row</p><p><strong>International caps: </strong>2</p> <widget id="7"></widget><p>Yes, he is not in Super League but it would be remiss of me to overlook Matty Nicholson.</p><p>He has returned for the last couple of games off the bench for the Raiders and if he finds a run of form, he will be someone very much in McDermott's thinking.</p><p>The new England boss has said he will firmly have eyes on the NRL as well as Super League and with that in mind, Nicholson has a real chance to get back into the international scene.</p><h3><strong>England 38-man performance programme group</strong>:</h3><p>Junior Nsemba, Ethan Havard, Luke Thompson, Sam Walters, Brad O'Neill, Jake Wardle, Harry Smith, Z...

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