Pilloried all season for his dodgy Warrington form, England’s red-hot George Williams insists critics never bothered him.
At times, as woeful Wolves wobbled near Super League’s drop zone, the ex-Canberra stand-off looked a pale shadow of his former self. But England coach Shaun Wane loyally stuck by his former Wigan player and he’s been brilliant in his country’s World Cup charge. Cool-headed Williams maintains the abuse never got to him.
He said: “In the nicest way possible, I don’t read too much into anything like that. When you’re doing good, you’re the best. And when you’re not going so good you’re the worst. I believe in myself. It’s great to be involved in this England group. The environment we’ve got and the journey we’re on is something special. We’re looking to do something special. But the environment the coaching staff has created is really good.”
Williams hopes to round off a 100 percent win record in Group A with victory over Greece in Sheffield on Saturday. Having tormented Fiji in their warm-up, he scored one try and created two others in the 60-6 rout of Samoa and was player of the match as England eased past France 42-18. Williams knows how to handle scrutiny, especially having played NRL where rugby league stars are under intense spotlight much like Premier League footballers here.
Has that helped him cope with the flak this year? Williams, who turns 28 on Monday, replied: “Yes, maybe. But as a player you can’t really buy into that. There’s different opinions all over the place.
"Some people will say you’re the best, some will say you’re the worst. You just have to stick to your process and know what works for you. It has been a difficult year for me but I am really enjoying playing in this team.”
Whereas Warrington’s pack got battered for much of 2022, Williams is bossing games for England playing behind in-form forwards like Tom Burgess, Victor Radley and Elliott Whitehead. He added: “Look, I’m not going to slag off any of my Warrington team-mates. Every one of us is accountable. You can’t just put what happened on anyone. We’re all accountable as players but the pack I’ve got here is pretty special and it makes my job a lot easier.”
Wane gave Williams his Wigan debut in 2013 and they won two Super League Grand Finals together. Now they hope to produce England’s first-ever World Cup glory and he said: “Waney is probably one of the best - if not the best - at man-management and getting his teams motivated. He does team talks and you’re ready to run through walls for him.
“He was disappointed with some of what we did against France and he told us. He can lose his shi*. But he can get around you as well. He knows when you need some tough love and sometimes an arm around you. We’re in the quarter-finals now but we want to beat Greece on Saturday and win three from three to take the group. We’ve a bit to fix up.”
