STEVE Price hopes Warrington’s quartet of England stars can turn the benefit of their World Cup near miss into a Super League comeback.
Wolves aces Ben Currie, Chris Hill, Stefan Ratchford and Kevin Brown all return to training today after being part of Wayne Bennett’s squad that so narrowly missed out on glory at the start of last month.
They along with new boy Ben Murdoch-Masila, who went so close to reaching the final with Tonga but whose arrival has been delayed by paperwork, are expected to form the backbone of the Wolves’ bid to get back to Super League’s top table after last season’s ninth placed finish.
The Wire avoided relegation by coasting through the Qualifiers but changes have been made with Tony Smith ending his eight year stint in charge.
And new boss Price, who has been given the job of turning Warrington into title contenders, hopes their experiences in the Autumn can propel them to big things domestically.
He told SunSport: “I’d like to think they’d come back a lot more confident.
“Also the experience they gained, especially as momentum grew as they definitely got a lot better, could be good for us too.”
Price, 39, met with the England quartet while they were in Australia and he admits the final, which England agonisingly lost 6-0 to Australia, showed the gap is closing.
The Aussie added: “That was a cracking final and I’d definitely like to think they can get even better.
“And it’s important that England showed they are catching up to Australia.”
Warrington started pre-season with a 26-22 friendly defeat at Widnes but Price believes the English competition may kick on with the added belief the national side can do it at international level.
He said: “There’s a fantastic club game here and Super League has had a lot of good players for a number of years.
“I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into it and I’ve already learning that Warrington is a fabulous club.”
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