World Cup: Wayne Bennett rules out other overseas-born players

The veteran Brisbane Broncos boss caused a stir by selecting Australian-born forwards Chris Heighington and Chris McQueen for the mid-season international against Samoa earlier this month.

Both men qualify through English fathers and it had been suggested the England coach was considering other NRL players who have English grandparents such as the Morris twins, Brett and Josh, Trent Hodkinson and Blake Austin.

However, Bennett joked about the prospect during a press conference in Auckland at the weekend before ruling out any more "plastic" Brits.

"I've asked a couple of Aussies, like James Roberts and a few guys like that, if they've got a grandma somewhere that might have been English but I can't find any at the moment," he quipped.

"But, no, there's no more that's going to jump out of the ground."

Bennett insisted that both Heighington and McQueen were welcomed with open arms by the rest of the England squad during the week-long training camp in Sydney.

"Chris had been there before and he was great in the team," Bennett said. "They accepted him. It wasn't a problem, it was the same with Chris McQueen.

"They're like all of you over here, they want the best World Cup and they want to be with the best players. These guys are the best players and they're eligible and meet the criteria."

Bennett was criticised for leaving out three of his Super League-based players from the team that beat Samoa 30-10 at Campbeltown Stadium, which meant that Alex Walmsley, Mark Percival and Scott Taylor travelled 12,000 miles purely to train, but he says they remain in contention for the World Cup.

"They were in the 20 that came over and we've got to pick 24 for the World Cup so they're still b atia chance," he said.

Meanwhile, England have confirmed they will prepare for their opening game against Australia with a camp in Perth and a match against an Affiliated States representative team at Perth's Rectangular Stadium on October 20.

The game, against a team selected from players from Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia and Northern Territory, will take place during Bennett's 10-day training camp in the Western Australian capital.

Bennett said he turned down the opportunity to take part in a pre-World Cup tournament in Fiji, featuring the Bati, Australia and Papua New Guinea in favour of the warm-up match in Perth.