Carney questions Bennett appointment

Former Great Britain & Ireland star Brian Carney says selecting England head coach Wayne Bennett as Lions boss was a mistake. The Lions are currently preparing for their first Test against New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday, having suffered a shock 14-6 defeat to a Tongan Invitational XIII last weekend. Unsurprisingly, the Lions squad is dominated by England players, with just a handful representing Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland international Lachlan Coote, Ireland’s Joe Philbin and Wales representatives Regan Grace and Morgan Knowles are the only players that don’t have ties with the England squad. Carney feels that appointing Castleford coach Daryl Powell would have given the Lions a fresher look as opposed to resembling an England squad in different shirts under Bennett. “They missed a huge trick with just rolling England head coach Wayne Bennett in as well, when I would have plumped for a candidate like Daryl Powell,” Carney wrote in his Sky Sports column. “There was an opportunity to re-establish the brand and give it some clarity, and they didn’t do that. You can see that because it manifests itself in the way people refer to the squad.”