SHAUN Wane has hailed the impact Lee Briers has had on the England camp during the series against Tonga.

Indeed, he says the Warrington Wolves legend has been “a breath of fresh air” since arriving as one of his assistant coaches.

Briers, who spent 25 years with The Wire as first an iconic player and then a coach before leaving in 2021, has been helping Wane and the players prepare to face the Tongans alongside former Castleford head coach Andy Last, with their efforts helping England into an unassailable 2-0 series lead with just Saturday’s final match at Headingley to play.

It follows on from his work as an assistant coach with beaten NRL Grand Finalists Brisbane Broncos during 2023, which has attracted great praise Down Under.

Wane and Briers worked together at Wigan Warriors in 2022 and the national team head coach spoke highly of what the 45-year-old has added to his backroom team.

“Lee Briers has been like a breath of fresh air,” he said.

“I’ve worked with him at Wigan so I knew what he could bring, but he’s very, very calm.

“He thinks in a very simple way and doesn’t overdo it in terms of the information he gives the players.

“He’s been a great help to me, as has Andy Last – they’re outstanding coaches and I’m lucky to have them.”

Centre Harry Newman echoed Wane’s words having been a direct recipient of Briers’ coaching in recent weeks.

“Briersy reviewed my game with me one-on-one last week,” he said.

“We all know what he wants from us in attack – he’s been very direct with what he wants and I think we’ve delivered on that so far.

“We’ve got a lot more improvement in us, we all know that as players and we’ll be looking to deliver that on Saturday.”