The Kangaroos Beat The English Side to Keep Ashes
According to skipper George Williams, the national team were handed a harsh "sobering lesson" as Australia clinched the coveted Ashes trophy.
The Kangaroos' 14-4 victory at the Merseyside venue on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making next week's sold-out third Test a academic contest.
Shaun Wane's side had entered the series dreaming of sending the Kangaroos to their maiden Ashes setback since the 1970s.
In the past two years, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a success over the Samoan team. But as the Rugby League Ashes resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to advance further against the top-ranked team.
"We're not making excuses. We've had enough training periods to execute properly on the pitch, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams stated.
"Australia deserve praise. They were strong in defense. But we've got plenty to work on. It seems not as good as we expected we were going into this series.
"So it's a necessary wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to develop."
Australia 'Show Up and Are Ruthless'
The Kangaroos scored a pair of tries in a short burst during the closing segment of the Weekend clash
Having been heavily outplayed in an mistake-ridden performance at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on the weekend back in the core regions of England's north.
In an inspiring initial stages, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had all the field position and possession, but unfortunately did not make it count on the scoreboard.
Notably, the English team have now scored just a single touchdown over two full matches, with St Helens hooker the forward barging over late on in the loss in London.
In contrast, Australia have scored half a dozen across the series - and when errors began to affect the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.
First the playmaker crossed, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being tied at 4-4, the home side were trailing by 10.
"Proud for the bulk of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.
"The lapse for 10 minutes after the break cost us immensely. Munster's try was avoidable and should not be scored in a international fixture.
"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a dig but so disappointed with that post-interval, which proved costly dearly."
Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's immediate focus will be on trying to restore some pride, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the errors that frustrated Wane.
"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at the opposition. I wanted us to build pressure in the game - we didn't do that last week," added the veteran coach.
"We managed this week. The issue is a lack of precision in our offense where we could have applied under greater stress. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.
"Credit to Australia - that is not a criticism to them. They arrive and are ruthless when they capitalize, and we weren't, but in defense we must do improve.
"The Australians will be focused to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the squad. It has to be our main aim. It's going to be a challenging week but whoever wants it the greatest will get the win next week."
Intensity Must to Increase in Super League
The English side have participated in a similar number of international fixtures to Australia since the last World Cup in recent years.
However the coach thinks that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between NSW and Queensland - provide a more effective foundation for competing at the highest level of the global stage than what is available in the northern hemisphere.
Wane commented that the congested domestic league calendar allowed little opportunity for him to work with his squad during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can bridge the gap to Australia before heading to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.
"The Australians play a lot of internationals in their competition," Wane remarked.
"We play ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial highly competitive games to improve the domestic league and boost our chances of succeeding in these high-stakes fixtures.
"I couldn't even practice with the squad. There was no chance to trained together in the campaign and I had the full backing of everyone in Super League.
"I have also been in the boots of the club managers that must to win games. The competition is that tight. It's a pity but that's not the cause we got beaten today."