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In the words of captain George Williams, the national team were delivered a stark "wake-up call" as Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes.

The Kangaroos' decisive 14-4 win at the Merseyside venue on Saturday gave them a unassailable 2-0 advantage, making the upcoming Headingley encounter a meaningless fixture.

The national squad had entered the series dreaming of inflicting Australia to their first Ashes series defeat since over five decades ago.

Recently, they had secured a 3-0 series win over the Tongan side and a success over the Samoan team. But as the historic rivalry returned after a 22-year absence, the English were failed to make the leap against the top-ranked team.

"We take full responsibility. We've had enough training periods to execute properly on the field, and I don't think we've achieved that," Williams commented.

"Full marks to the Kangaroos. They were strong in defense. But we've got a lot to improve. We're probably not as strong as we thought we were entering this series.

"This serves as a good wake-up call for us, and we have plenty to improve on."

The Kangaroos 'Arrive and Prove Ruthless'

Having been comprehensively defeated in an sloppy showing at Wembley, England's were significantly better on the weekend back in the traditional strongholds of England's north.

In a rousing initial stages, the home side elicited errors from the Kangaroos and had all the field position and ball control, but crucially did not convert opportunities on the scoreboard.

Significantly, England have now scored just one try over 160 minutes, with St Helens hooker Daryl Clark scoring late on in the defeat in London.

In contrast, the Kangaroos have racked up half a dozen in two games - and when errors began to appear in the England's play just after the break, it was a case of certainty, they were going to be severely punished.

First the playmaker went over, and then so too did Hudson Young. From being level at four-all, the home side were down by double digits.

"Proud for the bulk of the game. I thought for 70 minutes we were solid," said Wane.

"The lapse for a brief period after half-time hurt us immensely. Munster's try was soft and should not be scored in a Test match.

"The team is devastated. Extremely pleased the squad had a fight but so disappointed with that after half-time, which hurt us heavily."

While the upcoming global tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is just under a year from now, England's short-term goal will be on trying to regain respect, preventing a clean sweep and eliminating the issues that annoyed the coach.

"I hoped to see greater effort thrown at Australia. I wanted us to apply sustained attack in the game - we fell short last week," added the veteran coach.

"We did this week. It's just a bit of detail in our attack where we could have applied under increased strain. We need to stop each of [tries] better.

"Credit to Australia - that is no slight to them. They perform and are ruthless when they seize opportunities, and we weren't, but defensively we can and should do better.

"They will be obsessed to win all three Tests and we need to be obsessed to make it 2-1. I've told that to the squad. This must become our obsession. It's going to be a tough week but the side that strives for it the greatest will get the win next week."

Competitive Edge Must to Elevate in Domestic Competition

The English side have played a similar number of international fixtures to the Kangaroos since the last World Cup in recent years.

Yet Wane thinks that the strength of the NRL - and quality of the State of Origin matches between New South Wales and QLD - deliver a much better foundation for performing at the highest level of the international game than what is on offer in the Europe.

The England coach commented that the hectic domestic league calendar allowed little opportunity for him to coach his team during the campaign, which will only raise more issues around how the national team can close the divide to the Kangaroos before travelling to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.

"The Australians participate in a lot of internationals in their competition," he added.

"England have ten to fifteen a year. It's crucial really intense games to enhance the competition and improve our chances of succeeding in these types of matches.

"It was impossible to even train with the squad. There was no chance to got on the field in the season and I had the complete support of all clubs in the domestic competition.

"I have also been in the shoes of the head coaches that must to win games. The league is that packed. It's a pity but it's not the cause we got beaten today."