Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone in line for call-up to the England squad
National boss Wayne Bennett reveals party to face France and New Zealand today - and Johnstone is believed to be bang in contention
TOM JOHNSTONE is set to cap a wonderful week with an England call-up.
The Wakefield winger yesterday made Super League’s 2018 Dream Team.
Now it is understood he will today be named in Wayne Bennett’s party to face New Zealand in a three-Test series and a warm-up game against France.
Johnstone is actually available for Scotland as his father was serving in the Scots Guards when he was born in Germany, meaning he was technically born in Edinburgh!
Bravehearts boss Chris Chester, who coaches him at Wakefield, asked whether he wanted to play for them, only to be told he wants to play for England.
Now he may be about to get his wish when a 24-man squad for the Autumn Tests is named and said: “That would just top off a dream season.
“I watched New Zealand play Leeds at Headingley in a warm-up game in 2015 and thought to myself, ‘How amazing would it be to play against them? It would be a dream.’
“To possibly have that opportunity coming up would be a dream come true. I hope I’m ready to make the step up and hopefully I fit into the squad if called upon.”
Bennett has a number of big name absentees, including Gareth Widdop, Kallum Watkins and Ryan Hall.
However Johnstone himself has overcome a knee problem to put himself in contention for the squad, 18 months after a scarily similar injury ruled him out of last year’s mid-season match against Samoa.
But he added: “I got my foot stuck and someone hit into my knee and hyper-extended it, which was how I did my knee last year. I thought, ‘It’s gone again.’
“When I saw a video back, I thought I had done it but then a scan showed my cruciate ligament was all in tact. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier."
SunSport understands there will be no surprise call-up for Salford’s Jackson Hastings, who told how he wants to pull on a white shirt to honour his late grandmother, nor Sydney Roosters’ Victor Radley, whose father Nigel is English.
Johnstone bagged one of the wing spots in the Dream Team, which was dominated by runaway Super League leaders St Helens.
Clubmates Bill Tupou and Matty Ashurst also made the 13 but Saints had seven representatives – Ben Ben Barba, Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival, Jonny Lomax, Danny Richardson, Luke Thompson and James Roby.
Catalans Dragons’ Remi Casty made the cut at prop while Wigan duo John Bateman and Sean O’Loughlin have also made it.
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