As part of Grand Final week in Australia, they hold an international fixture with a twist. This is the Prime Minister’s XIII game, and for those of you who don’t know about it, the premise is this: an Australian team made up of players from clubs that either did not qualify for the finals, or, in recent years, players from teams that were knocked out early in the finals. The game has been played against a Papua New Guinea side every year since 2005, and has been a part of the Grand Final week events for the past few years.

This concept got me thinking of how we might implement a similar concept here, as I thought it would make for a fun thought exercise while we’re in the fallow period between the end of the domestic season and the start of the international calendar, so I’ve given it some thought and now present to you who would be in my PMXIII if such a thing were to happen on this side of the world, and with a rugby league fan currently occupying Number 10, maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Here are some ground rules: only teams that either didn’t make the play-offs or were knocked out in the first weekend (for lack of a doubt, that’s every Super League side that finished fifth or below this season) are eligible to be picked. I’m also discounting players who were named in the full England World Cup squad (so no Mikey Lewis, Jez Litten, or Jack Welsby), as I think that makes things more interesting. I’m also only going to be selecting English-based players, as I want this thought exercise to be as real-world-based as possible, and I don’t think players would come over for one game. However, I will be able to select a player who played in Australia in 2026 but is moving to the UK for 2027, as long as the NRL team they played for also meets the first requirement. Is that as clear as mud? Good. Without further stalling, then, here’s my hypothetical England PMXIII.

• Full Back: Olly Ashal-Bott (Toulouse Olympique XIII)
• Winger: Tom Davies (Hull KR)
• Centre: Zak Hardaker (Hull FC)
• Centre: Umyla Hanley (Leigh Leopards)
• Winger: Josh Charnley (Leigh Leopards)
• Stand-Off: Harry Roberston (St Helens)
• Scrum Half: Lewis Dodd (Catalans Dragons)
• Prop: Harvie Hill (Hull FC)
• Hooker: Daryl Clark (St Helens)
• Prop: Robbie Mulhern (Leigh Leopards)
• Second Row: Joe Batchelor (Hull FC)
• Second Row: James Batchelor (Hull KR)
• Loose Forward: Dean Hadley (Hull KR)

Bench:

• Alex Walmsley (St Helens)
• Elliot Minchella (Hull KR)
• George Lawler (Castleford Tigers)
• Kruise Leeming (Huddersfield Giants)

This ended up being a lot more difficult to put together than I thought it would be; let me tell you. Certain positions fell into place nicely, such as Olly Ashall-Bott (although a case could also be made for Logan Moy, I grant you) and Tom Davies on the wing, but it was assembling a forward pack that ended up being the biggest challenge, and not just picking the right people, but selecting who should go where. I had decided on pairing the Bathelor brothers up in the second row fairly early on, but then selecting prop forward and loose forward ended up being trickier.

I had originally put Dean Hadley in as a prop, but then switched him to loose forward to accommodate Harvie Hill in as a prop. I thought of maybe moving Hadley to the bench in favour of Elliot Minchella or even Joe Mellor from Bradford, but have stuck with him as a starter, as he can switch to the second row or prop as and when needed, and so gives greater versatility of rotation. I had also included both of the Mellor brothers on the bench, but then realised that neither was a prop forward, leaving only Alex Walmsley on the bench to cover that, so I switched them out for George Lawler and Elliot Minchella, the latter of whom can go on at thirteen while moving Hadley to prop.

By far the biggest challenge, however, was selecting two hookers for the squad. I handcuffed myself by imposing the ‘no players from the full England squad’ rule, thereby taking Jez Litten out of the equation, and leaving me with scant few English choices to choose from. Paul McShane was even seriously considered by me at one point, and despite Daryl Clark not being particularly impressive this season, he got the starting berth by virtue of being experienced, but not as old as McShane, and Kruise Leeming slotted in on the bench as pretty much the only other option; as final options go, he’s certainly not a bad one.

So, there we have it, an England Prime Minister’s XIII. It was a fun little brain exercise putting this together, and I think that starting thirteen at least could be quite dangerous. I’m not sure who they would face in this hypothetical scenario; perhaps an international all-stars all picked under the same parameters? That might be an easier team to pick than the England one, in all honesty! Or maybe a pre-season game against France? I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought that out, but if you’d like to see me pick an international all-stars team to go up against this team, let me know and I’ll do it next week!

Written by Nathan Major (Site editor & Hull KR fan)