LET the mind games begin.
Australia head coach Kevin Walters has taken aim at the RFL for giving the Kangaroos the “worst flight possible” ahead of the Ashes series against England later this month.
The first Test takes place on October 25 at Wembley Stadium, but Walters isn’t a fan of the way in which his squad will be making the trip to England next week.
That’s despite the RFL covering the Kangaroos’ travel costs and paying for business class.
“The RFL, in their kindness, have given us the worst flight possible to be flying to England if you’re a sports team,” Walters said on the Inside Ball podcast.
“It couldn’t have been worse so we have hired, without giving away too much information, a sleep specialist who specialises in overseas travel and sporting teams and making sure they get the best available preparation.
“You’ve got to adjust quickly so before we go it’ll start. There will be little things like sleeping tablets and trying to adjust to arriving.
“We arrive in London at 8.15pm. We don’t want them going to sleep at 8pm because they’ll be awake at 4am.
“We don’t need to get stuck into it too much. They’re good flights and the players are flying business class.
“They managed to find me a seat at the front of the plane. It’s very important we get that part of the trip right.”