Wigan: England coach Shaun Wane has hit back at accusations the host nation is getting preferable treatment at the World Cup and claims they’re the underdogs of the sides left in the tournament.
Kangaroos officials have been left disgruntled at tournament organisers over a perception everything has been set up for England to win the final.
England have enjoyed better turnaround times between games and less travel between games and training than most sides.
Watch every match of the Rugby League World Cup LIVE & Exclusive to Fox Sports, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Crichton relishing facing ‘best mates’ | 03:35
Samoa have moved their camp after being dissatisfied with their base – switching from Doncaster to Bolton and then to Manchester.
Manchester-based Australia have used several training grounds and they’ve struggled to find accommodation in Leeds for the semi-final against New Zealand on Saturday morning AEDT.
Perplexing world rankings also ensured England would avoid meeting the Kangaroos or Kiwis before the final.
England will face Samoa – who they thrashed 60-6 in the tournament opener – in London on Sunday morning AEDT.
It was put to Wayne that the logistics of the tournament had worked in his side’s favour, which the coach denied.
MORE NRL NEWS
FULL 2023 NRL DRAW: Every round, every game and who your club plays twice
2023 PREDICTED LADDER: More misery for Tigers, surprise packet tipped to fall
EVERY TEAM’S DRAW RANKED: Kevvie’s Broncos nightmare; Raiders’ dream run
GRUDGE MATCHES: Seibold’s brutal Broncos return, Panthers out for Ricky revenge
“I’ve never heard that before, and I never thought I would hear that,” he said.
“I just don’t see where that comes from. The Aussies are playing Friday and we’re on Saturday, 24 hours later.
“So they’ll have an extra day in a steam room, nice and relaxed. They’ve got another 24 hours on us.
“I think the World Cup have done a great job. We’re changing hotels this weekend, travelling to London and we look at that as exciting.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
Huge AUS v NZ semi-final preview! | 04:45
Despite thumping Samoa in the group stages, Wane still believes his side are the underdogs heading into the clash at the Emirates Stadium.
“We’ll have a guest speaker come talk to the boys this week about resilience and being the underdog, when people don’t expect you to do anything,” he said.
You look at Samoa and you know they’ve got six seven players that played in the NRL grand final.
“The NRL is a fantastic competition, it’s something which I look up to and learn a lot from and admire.
“We didn’t have anybody in our team (who played in the NRL grand final). So the fact is that on paper they’ve got some great players in the team, so does New Zealand and Australia so we do look at ourselves as underdogs.”
