England coach Wayne Bennett says his team is ready to face Australia in the World Cup opener on Friday night.

The English will start as underdogs but Bennett believes they’re ready to start building towards the end goal – the final.

“I’m really pleased with the preparations,” he said.

“We had a really good week in Perth and I’m happy with what we’ve done here.

“They’ve been with me 12 months now so we all know each other. There’s much better understanding and acceptance of what we need to do.

“We won’t be at our best on Friday night, they won’t be at their best either, it’s where we’re at in six weeks’ time. We want to be in that final, that’s what we’re aiming for.”

One of the most intriguing battles will be the halves duel between England’s Gareth Widdop and Luke Gale up against Cooper Cronk and Michael Morgan.

“Gareth is really confident and that confidence rubs off on other people. Luke won Man of Steel over there and I can see how much more confident he is this year,” Bennett added.

“They get the team round great so I’m more than happy with what I’ve got, they’ve just got to play well on the night.”

Watkins has the power 👊@KallumWatkins finishes off a top team move on our last trip to Melbourne in 2014 pic.twitter.com/iRcRGXoOAw

— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 24, 2017