If England wheelchair want to continue the defence of their Rugby League World Cup title, the task is simple: defeat Australia in the semi-finals in their own backyard. England face the host nation on Tuesday at 9.45am, with a place in the final on the line. France take on Ireland in the other semi-final at 6.45am.
As the reigning and defending champions, England were, of course, the favourites heading into this tournament after getting glory on home soil back in 2022. England and Australia played each other in last year's Wheelchair Ashes series Down Under, where England secured a 2-0 series victory. For Rob Hawkins, who has starred for England since 2019, a tough test awaits as they know Australia will have improved even from their meetings in 2025.
"I think every game that we have had this tournament has been tough, really," said Hawkins. "It probably doesn't seem that way when you look at the scorelines that we have had, but every game has been tough in certain ways. "We don't really think about it in terms of whether this is going to be our toughest game.
It is just another game at the end of the day. "Australia have improved a lot since we faced them in the World Cup in 2022. "We can see if they have actually improved more since our last meeting last year.
"From my point of view, I'm excited. The game is growing and the teams are improving a lot more. So it's going to be an exciting game against Australia." England have to prepare for a stronger Australia but they also have to prepare for an atmosphere in which they will be heavily backed against when they take on their fiercest rivals.
It is something Hawkins is ready to embrace as he tries to turn the pressure into a big performance. "They had to do the same thing with us in 2022. You are going to have those moments.
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