JOE Philbin is one of five current Warrington Wolves players named in the final Great Britain Lions squad for their tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

The Warringtonian prop caps a memorable year by being selected in Wayne Bennett’s 24-man party to make the trip Down Under.

Philbin has never been capped by England but did represent England Knights when they toured Papua New Guinea last year while he also played for Ireland in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

He is joined in the squad by his Wire co-captains Chris Hill and Jack Hughes, with the latter hoping to shake off the groin injury which has ruled him out of this weekend’s Downer World Cup Nines.

Blake Austin and Daryl Clark, who will play for England in the inaugural Nines tournament in Sydney, are also named, as is incoming signing Gareth Widdop.

In the absence of both Sean O’Loughlin and Sam Burgess, Widdop’s St George Illawarra teammate James Graham will captain the side.

The Lions will play four games on their tour, with two of them against the Kiwis – in Auckland on November 2 and Christchurch on November 9.

Either side of those games, Bennett’s side will face a Tongan Invitational XIII in Hamilton on October 26 before rounding off the tour in Papua New Guinea as they face the Kumuls in Port Moresby.

Full Great Britain Lions squad:

James Graham (captain), Blake Austin, John Bateman, Tom Burgess, Daryl Clark, Jake Connor, Lachlan Coote, Oliver Gildart, Zak Hardaker, Jackson Hastings, Ryan Hall, Chris Hill, Josh Hodgson, Jack Hughes, Josh Jones, Jonny Lomax, Jermaine McGillvary, Joe Philbin, Luke Thompson, Jake Trueman, Alex Walmsley, Elliot Whitehead, Gareth Widdop, George Williams