MIKE McMeeken hopes you can soon start putting your house on England being successful – ideally one of his.

The prop looks set to form part of a pack hell bent on making it a 2-0 whitewash in the series against Samoa.

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Off the field, he is looking at building a career of his own in the property game.

Moving to Catalans Dragons put those ambitions largely on hold but now he is back in this country after joining Super League new boys Wakefield, that charge can start again at his current ‘club.’

“It’s something that intrigues me,” said McMeeken about his venture. “I enjoy seeing the improvements that can be made to houses.

“It’s something for the future as well – not just for myself but for my family too – and I’m going to train to become a joiner or some sort of tradesman in the next few years.

“I can buy a house, renovate it then sell it on or rent it out. Things like that excite me, it’s an interest outside of rugby.

“It was put on hold for a while because of being in France – interest rates there for investing over here weren’t ideal – but I’m keen to look to invest in the future.

“Now there are a few players who are into their property and know what they’re talking about, so I’m keen to learn from them.

“But the camaraderie England has as a group feels like a club. Sometimes when you bring players together, there can sometimes be a bit of a divide or a few groups.

“However, we’re all one. Everyone’s doing things together on days off. Club rivalries are on the field and we’re competitors but as soon as you come off it, you can be mates again.”

McMeeken, not the only southerner in Shaun Wane’s squad, reached two Super League Grand Finals with Catalans – and life in the south of France had its appeals.

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But he and wife Lauren are back in Yorkshire as Wakefield look to prosper following their elevation back to the top flight.

And some French lessons can translate on to the field after a gamble – agreeing the move when Trinity was a Championship club – paid off and can pay off at Headingley.

The 30-year-old added: “The experiences I picked up in France over four years were awesome, not just for me but for my family as well.

“Moving to Catalans when I did was because I wanted a new challenge and to get out of my comfort zone – you pick up experience from being outside it. You always get better from doing stuff like that.

“In elements, Test rugby takes you out of that. It goes up to another level of intensity when it’s country v country. There’s no knocking off at any point as you’ll be found out.

“But I felt the time was right to go to a different adventure and a new challenge with Wakefield.

“Agreeing the move was definitely a bit of a gamble but they were extremely confident they’d be back and I bought into the project there. It really excited me.”

Sergio Perez’s ongoing struggles in Formula 1 have left his Red Bull bosses facing a $20 million headache over what it does with him going forward.

Where once his lack of scoring was not much more than an annoyance, and only had an impact on the Mexican’s own drivers’ championship positions, things have got much more critical now that McLaren and Ferrari have stepped up.

Red Bull is quickly facing up to a reality that, with Perez not delivering the points hoped for, it now risks finishing third in the constructors’ championship this year if it does not quickly turn around the speed of its car.

Ferrari’s resurgent form, having taken back-to-back wins and double podiums in Austin and Mexico, has helped the Maranello squad join McLaren in overtaking early-season frontrunner Red Bull in the teams’ standings.

McLaren is still out in front on 566, with Ferrari 29 points back on 537 – leaving Red Bull picking up third place on 512.

While Red Bull’s gap to those ahead of it is not mathematically insurmountable, with a lot of points still to play for, the reality is that Red Bull is barely holding on to the tailcoats of F1’s current two pacesetters – so has little hope of turning the situation around.

The current car performances are also why it is understood that there seems little to gain in pushing for a driver change before the end of the season, because nobody is going to be able to step in and be guaranteed to save its plight enough right now.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

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Ending up behind McLaren and Ferrari will have major consequences for Red Bull, because it well understands that F1’s prize money system is based entirely on constructors’ championship position. So, a third place finish to end the 2024 campaign, as opposed to winning it as looked highly likely in the early phase of the campaign, will be a big financial blow.

And should it come to the point of analysing why exactly – with championship positions worth around $10 million each – it has ended up with $20 million less than it had hoped for, it will have to look at the points that Perez left begging throughout the campaign.

It is this element that will also certainly dictate what Red Bull does when it comes to deciding who Max Verstappen’s team-mate will be next year.

Right now, all indications are that Liam Lawson will get the nod if he continues doing what he is doing. The New Zealander has shown strong form since returning to the F1 cockpit as the replacement for Daniel Ricciardo from the United States Grand Prix.

Although he perhaps overstepped the mark of what was expected of him by clashing with Perez – and then showing him the finger – in Mexico last week, what he has also shown is that he is more than ready to get stuck in – a characteristic that Red Bull’s chiefs always want to see.

But Red Bull’s driver decision is not as simple as picking the best two candidates it can for the main team because it also has to factor in what goes on at sister squad RB. There is no point shifting all the good drivers to Red Bull for a constructors’ championship boost, if that then leaves RB with a line-up that drops it down the order.

A Lawson promotion to the top squad in 2025 could only really happen if it was sure that there was another strong candidate to slot in as team-mate to Yuki Tsunoda.

The obvious next driver in line coming up the Red Bull ranks is Isack Hadjar but, despite his strong season in F2, he would almost certainly benefit from a year of testing and development work to get himself up to speed with F1 before being thrust into what looks like a super-tight midfield battle for RB.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

However, another interesting scenario emerged over the Mexico Grand Prix weekend, and that is of Red Bull trying to get Franco Colapinto out of Williams’ grasps to slot him in next year.

The Argentinean has made a big impression in F1 since Williams drafted him in from the Italian Grand Prix, scoring points and becoming a fan-favourite.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has raved about his performances, being quoted recently as saying he is “turning heads” and telling media in Mexico that he would not be doing his job if he hadn’t made enquiries about his availability.

Sources have suggested that there is another key interest from Red Bull, and that is in tapping into the Latin American sponsor market, as interest in the region ramps up off the back of Colapinto’s form.

Red Bull had good knock-on sponsor benefits to having Perez on board, and there seems plenty of opportunity and interest from Argentinean sponsors already, with Williams certainly capitalising.

While Williams has said repeatedly it would like nothing more than seeing Colapinto land a race seat in F1 in 2025, there remain suggestions it may still want to keep hold of him as much as possible. That suggests any race seat for 2025 would be on a loan basis, rather than letting the youngster become a free agent.

From Red Bull’s perspective, however, this may be a deal breaker, as Marko admitted last weekend that it has no interest in taking someone on loan only to make them better for when they return to their original team.

“The problem with him is that he has a long-term contract with Williams,” the Austrian told the Kleine Zeitung. “[Taking him on loan] is not interesting for any team. You do not want to train a driver for another team.”

It is a situation that seems quite fluid at the moment, and it is little wonder that Williams team boss James Vowles hinted at it being quite delicate when asked about what was going on with Colapinto and RB.

Speaking to F1 TV, Vowles said: “He [Colapinto] has earned his place on the grid, and what we want to help with that is finding him a place in that regard.

“What it looks like, I can’t tell you at the moment, because A, it’s very sensitive, and B, there’s really not a lot to discuss right now.”

Exactly how things shake out with Red Bull’s driver line-up across both its teams for 2025 remains uncertain at the moment, but one thing is clear: it will not accept a $20 million prize money drop for the second year running.

England men’s football captain Harry Kane has 101 caps. His cricket counterpart Ben Stokes has played 107 Tests. Rugby union skipper Jamie George has worn the red rose 93 times.

It is little wonder England rugby league captain George Williams feels slightly short-changed – last Sunday, against Samoa, he made only his 18th international appearance, nine years after his debut.

While other sports have a schedule geared towards year-round competition on an international scale, with breaks set in the calendar in some cases, rugby league does not have that luxury.

“Personally I’d love to play a lot more – I love playing for England,” Williams told BBC Sport.

“If you look at rugby union, I’m not sure how many exactly they play in a year but it’s a lot more than us.”

This year’s Test series with Samoa has highlighted the quality within the England ranks. With a decent turn out for the impressive 34-18 win at Wigan in game one and a bumper gate expected for the second meeting in Leeds this Saturday, there is genuine cause for optimism.

Yet there is the perennial frustration in the northern hemisphere – for England in particular – that competitive matches, those appetite-whetting encounters featuring the world’s best players, are so few and far between.

“There’s no disrespect to France, but if we want to compete in the World Cups, we need to be playing against the best nations more regularly,” Williams added.

“Union is a bit more worldwide in that they’ve got Argentina and other nations that they can go to, but if we can try to get us to five to eight games a year, it would be brilliant.

“I’m not sure how that looks for Super League but I’m just talking as a player. I’d love to play for England a bit more.

“You see lads who have played for England rugby league for 10 years and they’ve still only got 20 caps – it’s crazy really. You see the football and the rugby union lads and they’ve got hundreds.”

The bond between Liga Portugal’s Sporting CP keeps growing. After handing the English team two captains (Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes), Sporting have now agreed to let their manager Ruben Amorim  take over the teetering Premier League side. 

At 39, the former international teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo, is already a legend at Lisbon thanks to his immediate effect at Estádio José Alvalade after taking over in 2020. When Jurgen Klopp decided to bid farewell to Liverpool, Amorim was rumoured to be his replacement before Arne Slott was appointed. Amorim had maintained he remained fully committed to Sporting and didn’t intend to go to England. However, the story has changed after Erik Ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United. According to reports, the Red Devils are set to pay €10m exit clause for Ruben Amorim to become new manager at Old Trafford. Sporting confirm also confirmed to having received formal communication from the English club. 

READ HERE | Era over! Manchester United sacks manager Erik ten Hag

Here are five things to know about  Ruben Amorim, the first MUFC manager in the INEOS era.

1. Ruben Amorim is currently in charge of Liga Portugal side Sporting CP. He was roped in as the manager of the Lisbon-based side on March 4, 2020. At the time of the hiring, Amorim had only the experience of slightly over two months in charge of a top-flight club. Sporting reportedly paid €10 million for his services, the third-highest transfer fee for a manager in history!

2. His limited top-tier experience ahead of the Sporting assignment was with SC Braga, another esteemed top-tier club in Portugal. After being signed to manage the reserve team in 2019 September, he was asked to take over the senior team for the remainder of the season starting in December. With Amorim in charge, Braga won the Taca da Liga — the domestic league cup — and registered its first away win against Benfica in 65 years. His tenure with the ‘Os Arcebispos’ lasted 72 days before making a switch to Lisbon. 

ALSO READ | These THREE players are untouchable! Manchester United tell ‘new’ manager Ruben Amorim

3. After finishing fourth in the debut season, Ruben Amorim managed to bring the league trophy home — Sporting CP’s first Liga title in 19 years. The team tasted defeat just once throughout the campaign and six of its stars made it to the Primeira Liga Team of the Year! Ace ballers Nuno Santos, Pedro Porro, Joao Mario and Joao Palhinha, Matheus Nunes and Nuno Mendes were among the stars that Sporting CP either bought or promoted from the academy during his tenure.

4. The highlight of his second season was Sporting making it to the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen for the first time since the 2008–09 season and winning a third consecutive league cup final (the first one was with Braga). He is the fastest manager to win 50 games in the Primeira Liga.

5. During his playing days, Ruben Amorim was predominantly a midfielder who could also take up responsibilities on the wings or down the right. The Belenenses and Benfica player represented Portugal in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the FIFA World Cup and received time on the field during either edition. In August 2015, Benfica sent Amorim on a season-long loan to Al-Wakrah in Qatar. In April 2017, he terminated his contract with Benfica and announced retirement at the age of 32.

Matz Sels, Nottingham Forest, keeper, £4.6m – home to West Ham

The Belgian is on a nice run of form – with a surprise assist and a clean sheet in his past two games.

Forest are still top five in most defensive stats and have conceded just seven goals – the second-lowest total in the league.

At home and with clean sheets in general at a premium, Sels makes sense.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool, defender, £7m – home to Brighton

Last week, just three of 20 teams kept a clean sheet. The week before it was five – thanks in part to a 0-0 draw between Aston Villa and Manchester United.

In that context, picking the most attacking defensive asset in a home game is a simple choice, despite Brighton posing a decent forward threat.

Alexander-Arnold is still miles ahead of any other defender in expected assists (3.05) and has just one. If you believe in those figures regressing to the mean – and I do – then “he’s due”.

Rayan Ait-Nouri, Wolves, defender, £4.6m – home to Crystal Palace

A very popular FPL pick at the moment and one flagged as a player to watch in this column three weeks ago.

Super attacking and budget friendly, Ait-Nouri has scored with three of his five shots on target and now has a run of fixtures where he could muster up a clean sheet to go with everything else.

Leif Davis, Ipswich, defender, £4.5m – home to Leicester City

Looking at this week’s fixtures, it is hard to predict a clean sheet. So in comes another attacking full-back at home.

We’ve talked about Davis’ attacking stats before – he had a superb season in the Championship in 2023-24 and has a couple of assists already this time around.

Ipswich should be on the front foot, at home against relegation rivals, so expect plenty of attacking positions from Davis.

Spanish star Marc Marquez has led a call by MotoGP riders for the world championship finale not to be staged at Valencia amid the heavy flood damage to have hit the region.

The race is scheduled to be held in two weeks on 15-17 November at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. While the circuit itself is understood to have escaped major issues, there is heavy damage to at least one of the access roads.

Although repairing the local infrastructure is probably a viable option, the feeling in the paddock ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix is that the finale is in doubt. There is a question mark around the deployment of local emergency services, which may be required for ongoing relief efforts, as well as the moral aspect of racing so soon after a catastrophe that has resulted in many lives being lost.

While MotoGP released a statement on Wednesday saying it is “committed to holding the event on the scheduled date” and emphasised solidarity with the victims at this point, riders including Marquez offered clear positions during Thursday’s media interviews at Sepang.

“Ethically speaking, I don’t think the Valencia Grand Prix should be held,” Marquez stated. “Now [the organisers] have to meet and decide, but [if it were up to me] I would have already decided: there would have to be another race, one to close the championship, but somewhere else.

“The only idea that would make sense would be if all the proceeds [from the event] went to the families [affected]…looking at the pictures from here, if money can be raised to help the people affected, then that would be the only logical option.

“As a Spaniard it is very difficult to see these images. We know that the area around the circuit has been badly damaged, but it doesn’t make sense to spend money on repairing that. Resources should go to helping people.”

Circuit Ricardo Tormo after flooding

Photo by: Paco Alcobendas

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Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro added that he would only be comfortable racing in Valencia if the event served as a fundraiser for the relief effort.

“Right now I think going there to race is the less important thing,” said Spain’s Espargaro, for whom the Valencia finale is scheduled to be a farewell before he heads into retirement.

“It’s not about the facilities. I think the facilities can be repaired. But the hospitals and the emergency [personnel deployment] are more important than to go there and do a sporting show.

“I think if we are able to go there and race, then somehow we have to help.

“We can handle it in different ways. If we can give something back to Valencia, for example if we donate our prize money, I would do it 100%. Or [maybe] Dorna can find some [other] way to help them.  

“It’s a very difficult situation. Hopefully Dorna and the government in Spain will take the right decision.”

Espargaro’s team-mate Maverick Vinales did not go so far as to say the race should be cancelled, but echoed his countrymen as far as the moral aspect was concerned.

“We’re in Malaysia and we need to race, but our minds are in Valencia,” said Vinales. “Racing is an aside: we’re praying for everyone who lost their homes or people. Racing in Valencia is not a priority.”