Australian coach Mal Meninga has thrown a short jab at rival and current English coach Wayne Bennett in the lead-up to the Four Nations.

Bennett missed out on the Kangaroos position to Meninga and eventually took the post for England seemingly in an act of revenge against Australian officials.

“He wants my job but he hasn’t got it,” Meninga said with a smile.

“So obviously he’ll be trying his damnedest to usurp me. We’ll see what happens.

“It’s not personal. It’s a bit of fun hopefully. A bit of banter doesn’t go astray. It’s nice to have this sort of thing in a Four Nations tournament.

“But I still think it’s good for international rugby league, having the best coach, the master coach, coaching England. Hopefully they’ll play really well and make the series an exciting one.”