By NIK ANAND
FORMER Waterhead Warriors player Marc Sneyd was so surprised by his England selection he had to abandon his holiday plans.
The Salford Red Devils half-back is in the frame to play in Saturday’s Rugby League World Cup opener after being named in Shaun Wane’s 19-man squad.
And uncapped 31-year-old, who was raised in Shaw, said his call-up came completely out of the blue at a time when he was planning a family getaway.
“We were in the middle of looking at holidays for half-term,” said Sneyd, who is in the mix to feature against Samoa at Newcastle’s St James’ Park.
“My wife’s a teacher so we were looking for the middle of October when she was off work – luckily we’d not booked anything.”
Sneyd admited he thought his international chances had slipped by after being overlooked throughout a decade-long career in Super League with Salford, Castleford and Hull FC.
“I never thought it would come,” said the goal-kicker, who helped guide the Red Devils to within one game of the Grand Final this year.
“I never thought it would happen. I thought, if it was going to come it would be during the Challenge Cup years at Hull (in 2016 and 2017) and it never did.
“I wouldn’t say I’d given up on it, but realistically I didn’t think it would ever happen. So, when I got the call from Waney it was unbelievable.
“I’d never spoken to him before. Thankfully it was a WhatsApp Call so his picture popped up because I’m one of those people who never answers unsaved numbers.
“I was over the moon. Now I just want to give it a crack. A lot of it is down to Salford and the way we’ve played this year.”
The England half-back shone in the recent warm-up 50-0 victory over Fiji, in which Sneyd converted seven of the available nine goals.
Despite an impressive performance, it is unclear whether he will get the nod to partner George Williams in the halves or whether one of Sam Tomkins or Jack Welsby – both full-backs – will be switched.
“It would mean everything to get the chance – it’s what I dreamed about growing up as a kid,” he said.
Either way, Sneyd is hoping a successful World Cup campaign can help the sport reach new audiences and emulate the impact the England Lionesses’ Euro 2021 success had on women’s football.
He added: “A successful World Cup would go a long way towards more people playing the sport, people viewing the sport, sponsorship – a win would snowball everything, like it has for the Lionesses.
“It’s not just about us winning a trophy, it’s a massive snowball for the whole sport.”
