England no hope: Benny
WAYNE Bennett’s mind games with Mal Meninga have begun, with the England coach claiming the Poms are virtually no hope of winning this Saturday night’s World Cup final against Australia.
The English camp are in disarray following their epic 20-18 semi-final disposal of Tonga, with key forwards Josh Hodgson and skipper Sean O’Loughlin in grave doubt for the Suncorp Stadium decider.
Hodgson hobbled off in the second half with a knee complaint and will have scans
today, while O’Loughlin will be racing the clock after injuring his quads.
Bennett was at his taciturn, best after the win but made it clear all the pressure was on Meninga entering the first Australia-England World Cup final in 22 years.
Asked if England could beat the rampaging Kangaroos, Bennett said: “Probably not ... but we will be there next week. We will still go to the game.
“I don’t think Hodgson will be right to play. You don’t normally limp off like that and play the next week.
“Sean is in some doubt, too. He has a quad strain.
“We kept turning up in defence, which was great. I’m really pleased with that.”
The tense backstory between Bennett and Meninga, two Queensland sporting greats, will ensure a spicy build-up to one of the most anticipated Ashes contests in league’s 109-year history.
Bennett famously blasted the Australian Rugby League Commission two years ago when he lost out to Meninga for the Kangaroos job. He believed the process was flawed and that Meninga had privately lobbied ARLC chairman John Grant for the post.
Meninga returned serve last year, accusing Bennett of undermining him and slamming him as “no friend of mine”.
The pair put aside their differences at a function this year, but Bennett would love nothing more than to knock off Meninga’s Kangaroos after being pilloried as a traitor for taking on the England job.
Amid the firestorm, Bennett has brought a harder edge to this English team. Their discipline has improved. Defensively, they will need to be miserly to match a Kangaroos team that has conceded just 16 points in five games.
“We’re a better team than we were last year,” Bennett said. “We wouldn’t have won this (Tonga) game last year. Tonga are a quality team, they have regular NRL players and two or three have played for Australia and New Zealand.”