FORMER Great Britain coach, and Bradford and Wigan superstar, Ellery Hanley will play a role in England's preparations for the World Cup by taking charge of the Combined Nations All Stars.

Hanley, 60, who made 38 international appearances for England and Great Britain from 1984-93, will go up against his former Wigan and Leeds team-mate Shaun Wane when the All Stars take on England at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday, June 18.

The game, which will be part of a double-header featuring England women against the French, has been arranged to help Wane in his preparations for the end-of-season World Cup.

England's wheelchair team will be in action over the same weekend as they build towards a World Cup campaign which gets under way at London's Copper Box in October

Hanley, a member of the Rugby League Hall of Fame, who was also the first black person to coach a British national team, takes over from former Australia coach Tim Sheens, who steered the All Stars to a 26-24 victory over England at the same venue last June.

His assistant will be former Scotland hooker Andrew Henderson, now head of rugby at Keighley Cougars, who was also right-hand man to Sheens.

Dave Rotheram, the Rugby Football League's chief on-field officer, said: "With a World Cup on the horizon this is a hugely significant year for rugby league and for our three England teams these fixtures will be a major part of tournament preparations.

"It's also a blank weekend in the domestic calendar, so a fantastic opportunity for supporters to get behind England Rugby League.

"These variations of rugby league, alongside the diversity at the heart of the Combined Nations concept, demonstrate how inclusion remains at the heart of our game."