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In the words of skipper George Williams, England were delivered a brutal "wake-up call" as the Kangaroos won the prestigious series.

Australia's 14-4 victory at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on the weekend gave them a commanding series edge, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a academic contest.

The national squad had entered the series dreaming of inflicting the Kangaroos to their first Ashes series defeat since the 1970s.

Recently, they had achieved a 3-0 series win over Tonga and a success over the Samoan team. But as the prestigious competition resumed after a two-decade hiatus, England were failed to take the next step against the top-ranked team.

"No excuses from us. We've had enough sessions to perform correctly on the pitch, and I don't think we've quite done that," the captain stated.

"Australia deserve praise. They proved good in defense. But we've got loads to improve. It seems not as strong as we thought we were going into this series.

"So it's a valuable lesson for us, and there is much to develop."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Merciless'

Having been heavily outplayed in an sloppy showing at Wembley, Wane side's were much improved on Saturday back in the core regions of the North.

In an inspiring opening period, the home side caused turnovers from the Australians and had dominant territory and ball control, but unfortunately did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, the English team have now managed just one try over two full matches, with player the forward barging over late on in the loss in the capital.

Conversely, Australia have accumulated six so far - and when errors began to creep into the England's play just after the interval, it was a case of when, not if, they were going to be heavily penalized.

First Cameron Munster went over, and then so too did the forward. From being tied at four-all, the home side were trailing by 10.

"Proud for the majority of the game. In my view for 70 minutes we were competitive," said Wane.

"The drop in intensity for a brief period after the break hurt us severely. The first try was avoidable and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but very frustrated with that second-half lapse, which proved costly significantly."

Although the next World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere is just under 12 months away, England's short-term goal will be on attempting to salvage honor, preventing a clean sweep and eradicating the issues that irritated Wane.

"I wanted to see more directed toward Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we failed to deliver last week," added the 61-year-old.

"We did this week. It's just a lack of precision in our attack where we could have applied under increased strain. It's essential to defend both [tries] with greater resolve.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They arrive and are clinical when they get a chance, and we weren't, but defensively we must do improve.

"They will be focused to win 3-0 and we need to be equally determined to make it a respectable scoreline. I've told that to the players. This must become our main aim. It's going to be a difficult week but whoever desires it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Super League

The English side have played a similar number of Test matches to the Kangaroos since the previous global tournament in recent years.

Yet Wane thinks that the strength of the Australian league - and level of the domestic rivalry matches between NSW and QLD - provide a more effective preparation for competing at the top of the global stage than what is on offer in the UK.

Wane commented that the hectic Super League fixture list left little opportunity for him to coach his squad during the season, which will only raise additional concerns around how England can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a lot of Test matches in their competition," he remarked.

"We have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to boost the domestic league and boost our chances of winning these high-stakes fixtures.

"I couldn't even train with the squad. We never trained together in the campaign and I had the complete support of everyone in the domestic competition.

"I understand in the position of the club managers that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but that's not the cause we got beaten today."