England players will undergo high-altitude training to help get them in peak condition for the World Cup.
However, instead of heading for the Pyrenees, Wayne Bennett's Super League-based elite training squad will undertake simulated altitude training in a climatic chamber in Manchester.
At the Institute of High Performance, they will also be exposed to a heat chamber in an effort to help them acclimatise to the 30-degree temperatures they can expect on arrival at their training camp in Perth.
The move is part of the latest state-of-the-art training overseen for the last eight years by the Rugby Football League's head of human performance Richard Hunwicks, whose meticulous preparation is designed to give the England players the edge over their opponents.
"We'll get them to 2,300 feet which is the highest you can go before you risk altitude sickness," Hunwicks said.
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"It just gives them that added aerobic challenge when they're training, an edge when you've got a relatively short period of time to prepare."
Around two-thirds of the 24-man to be announced by Bennett on Monday, October 9, are expected to come from the 27-strong elite training squad, with the rest coming from NRL clubs.
The failure of Canberra, Canterbury, Gold Coast, South Sydney and St George Illawarra to reach the play-offs means that James Graham, Gareth Widdop, Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead, Joe Greenwood and the three Burgess brothers have already played their last matches but they will have no time to put their feet up.
