New England coach McDermott backs Connor and criticises Wane’s ‘unfair’ treatment
Brian McDermott, the new England head coach, has insisted that Super League’s reigning Man of Steel, Jake Connor, is central to his plans for this year’s World Cup, before appearing to attack the treatment of the Leeds Rhinos half-back by his predecessor Shaun Wane.McDermott was unveiled on Thursday as England’s coach on a short-term deal for the tournament in Australia this autumn.The former Leeds and London coach is now working in the NRL as an assistant for Gold Coast Titans and saw off competition from Sam Burgess to be named as Wane’s successor.The buildup to last year’s Ashes, which proved to be Wane’s final series in charge, was overshadowed by his decision to omit Connor despite him being crowned Super League’s best player in 2025.Wane insisted that selection was “not difficult” and insisted he paid no attention to accolades like the Man of Steel, with Connor consistently overlooked to the bemusement of many.
But McDermott has seemingly confirmed he will include Connor in his World Cup squad this year while also calling out the treatment the 31-year-old received.“Yeah, he is [in my plans] for sure,” McDermott said.“Absolutely.The rhetoric around Jake was tremendously unfair.“I understand where he comes from in that he’s liked by some and disliked by others.
That’s the nature of the game.We can sit around the table and debate whether he’s a nice person but that’s not a fair rhetoric to be made public.You can’t argue he’s a fantastic player, he’s a brilliant player – he’s a game-breaker.”Having been beaten 3-0 in the Ashes and with just three training sessions planned together before their opening game of the World Cup against Tonga in October, expectations are unsurprisingly low for England this autumn.But McDermott, Super League’s most successful coach, has a different view.
“The gap is bridgeable but you’ve got to have a plan specific to UK-based players, the level of preparation they’re going to have and our competition,” he said,“We can win it; absolutely we can win it – but we have to do some things differently,“In the Ashes, we pushed them all the way and they were rattled in parts of games,We just didn’t do it for long enough,We’re going to have to be really well connected and have a bond together.
It can’t just be grabbing hold of the badge and shouting aggressively so the optics look good.We’re talking about true connection and a true bond.”
BP’s chair deserved a kick for his silly obstinacy over shareholder resolution
BP has fresh faces in the boardroom and a rigged strategy: it’s pivoting back to oil and gas and away from its low-carbon assets in an attempt to improve a weak share price. One can agree or disagree with the approach. But it was a silly act of overreach for a newish chair to try to stifle debate on such matters.That, in effect, was what Albert Manifold did when he excluded a resolution for Thursday’s annual meeting from Follow This, a Dutch investor group. The proposal itself cannot be described as explosive
Lockheed Martin CEO sees Trump’s Pentagon as ‘golden opportunity’ for growth
Lockheed Martin’s CEO has called the Trump administration a “golden opportunity” for the company as it expands its contracting work for the federal government amid the conflict in the Middle East.In an earnings call on Thursday covering the first quarter of 2026, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet told investors that the company is well positioned “based on more available resources for us”.“This is a golden opportunity right now based on who’s in government,” Taiclet said, citing “their experience, their willingness to change, the demand that they have for what we do and what our partners in our industry do”.He added that the company could move past the “burden” that came with government contracting and move it “towards a commercial contracting system”.“I’m encouraged by all of this in the evolving landscape,” Taiclet said
Microsoft and Meta announce large staff reductions as they spend big on AI
Meta and Microsoft are trimming their workforces by thousands as they make heavy investments in AI and executives claim that the technology is meeting their companies’ productivity needs.Meta told staff on Thursday that on 20 May it would cut some 10% of its personnel – just under 8,000 employees– to boost efficiency, part of a layoff plan made months ago. The company is also closing about 6,000 open roles. The same day, Microsoft announced to employees, for the first time, that it would offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its American workforce of roughly 125,000.In an internal memo to Meta’s staff, Janelle Gale, the chief people officer, didn’t mention AI explicitly but said the cuts would allow the company to “offset the other investments we’re making”
Thousands call on UK ministers to cut ties with US tech giant Palantir
More than 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils.Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the company, the software of which is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330m patient data contract with the NHS.This week, the Guardian revealed the Metropolitan police was in talks to use the company’s AI to analyse sensitive intelligence, and Palantir published a manifesto described by one MP as the “ramblings of a supervillain”.But the tech company is pushing back against the multipronged campaign challenging its work in the UK by taking issue with claims made widely on social media by the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, and the legal campaigner Jolyon Maugham, who this week launched a podcast investigation into Palantir. The Liberal Democrats are also calling for the NHS contract to be cancelled and new contracts to be halted
NFL draft 2026: Fernando Mendoza, Jeremiyah Love and other top prospects await call – live
Fernando MendozaThe QB widely expected to be selected no1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, will be the first presumptive top pick to not attend the draft in person since Trevor Lawrence was selected by Jacksonville. Mendoza wants to be at home to share the moment with his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, his father, and other close family and friends. But don’t worry, ESPN TV in the US will have at least one camera inside the Mendoza home to document the moment.And speaking of Mendoza, he’s going to be off the board shortly. Stick with us!New RulesIf you’re after the whole kit and caboodle of how this thing works, you can find all the details here
Patriots back coach Vrabel’s ‘leadership’ as new photos with NFL reporter Russini emerge
The New England Patriots have given their backing to Mike Vrabel as new photos of their head coach and NFL reporter Dianna Russini emerged on Thursday.Russini resigned from her post at the Athletic last week after the New York Post published photos of her and Vrabel embracing and holding hands at an Arizona resort. The pair are married to different people and have said their relationship is platonic. On Wednesday, Vrabel said he will miss day three of the NFL draft on Saturday to undergo counseling in the fallout from the controversy. He made an appearance before Thursday’s draft where he said “my priorities are my family and this football team
Warner-Judd reveals mid-race seizure led to depression, deli shifts – and her London Marathon debut
Sportradar’s share price falls after reports claim it had links to hundreds of illegal gambling sites
‘Worth a thousand words’: Trump photo obscuring women’s tennis team sparks backlash
Over-75s drive levels of physical activity in England to record high but inequalities remain
New England coach McDermott backs Connor and criticises Wane’s ‘unfair’ treatment
NFL 2026 draft predictions: the stars, the needs and the lower-round gems