Former England captain Jamie Peacock visited Perth in his role as team manager while in Australia for the recent Pacific Test against Samoa to look at accommodation and training facilities for the 24-man squad.
With their final pool match against France being at the Perth Rectangular Stadium on November 12, England will spend 10 days in the Western Australia capital before travelling to Melbourne to play Australia on October 27 and will return after their November 4 clash with Lebanon in Sydney.
Bennett said England had been offered the opportunity to take part in a pre-World Cup tournament in Fiji, featuring the Bati, Australia and Papua New Guinea but preferred to warm-up with the match against Affiliated States.
The match, at the Perth Rectangular Stadium, is believed to be the first time an Affiliated States team has played an international touring team.
Players to have come from those states include Brenton Lawrence, Joel Reddy (South Australia), Will Chambers, Luke Kelly (NT), Waqa Blake, Bryson Goodwin, Bronx Goodwin, Luke Goodwin, Curtis Rona, Cory Paterson, Jon Green, Jon Grieve, Matt Petersen, Daniel Holdsworth (WA) and Mahe Fonua (Victoria).
NRL Affiliated States Manager Martin Meredith said the opportunity for an Affiliated States side to play one of the world’s leading Test teams would be a once in a lifetime match for some of those players.
By Brad Walter | @BradWalterSport
Chief Correspondent, RLWC2017