Australia will be treating Saturday's Gillette Four Nations match against England as a major semi-final, according to Jarryd Hayne.

The Kangaroos have left themselves little room for error after being held to a 20-20 draw by New Zealand in their opening match and know defeat at Wigan's DW Stadium would leave their hopes of qualifying for the final hanging by a thread.

"We lose this game, we're out of the tournament, pretty much," said Hayne. "This is the major semi-final for us. It's massive and we need to put our best foot forward."

Victory for England would take them straight through to the November 14 final and Hayne, the player of the year after an outstanding season in the NRL, is expecting Tony Smith's men to make life difficult for them on Saturday.

Smith has virtually re-built the England backline after a disappointing World Cup and Hayne admits there are a host of unfamiliar faces outside the pack.

"England will be tough," he said. "They've a good forward pack. Something they always lacked was a backline but they've re-shaped that and they're looking pretty dangerous.

"In the World Cup there were a lot of senior players - Keith Senior, Leon Pryce etc - and the other night I don't think I recognised anyone.

"But it obviously worked because they had a good win, even though it took a while for them to get going. It makes for a good game.

"If we play like we did against New Zealand, we'll get our pants pulled down."

The 21-year-old Hayne, whose Fijian father Manoa Thompson had a spell with Warrington in the 1990s, played for Fiji in the World Cup after being left out of the Kangaroos squad and was grateful for their help in turning around both his life and his career.

The Batis attributed their success in reaching the semi-finals to their religion and Hayne was happy to throw himself into their beliefs.

"Being in the Fiji World Cup team had a major influence on the person I am and way I look at life," said Hayne, who is on his first visit to England.

"I've got a talent and I was pretty much abusing it. Now I'm going forward and doing my best to get the best out of the talent I have.

"Not getting picked for Australia was a bit of slap in the face but I didn't deserve to get picked because I wasn't playing good footie.

"It turned my life around, it made me look at things from a different perspective."

The result was spectacular as Hayne took the NRL by storm, helping Parramatta reach the Grand Final and taking out the Dally M award, which is the equivalent of Super League's Man of Steel.

"I have to pinch myself all the time," he said. "I've come on in leaps and miles. It was a year never forget and it's going to be hard to match it next year."

A wonderful year at full-back was not enough to oust Melbourne Storm's Billy Slater from the number one jersey but Hayne has no complaints about reverting to the wing.

"It's not just being on the wing, it's playing for Australia," he said. "As long as I get that green and gold jersey, that's all I'm bothered about.

"Billy has got the spot all along. The last time I played for Australia was on the wing. I just want to keep that spot and keep in the 17."

With the ball more often than not going out to the left wing, Hayne was a virtual spectator on the right flank against the Kiwis and he is hoping to get the chance to show his skill against England on Saturday.

"All the backs didn't get the ball they want but it was our first game," he said. "There was a bit of rust.

"We should have lost that game so to get a point out of it was a bit of a bonus."