Best England set-up I've been part of - Williams

In his BBC Sport column, England captain George Williams looks forward to Saturday's first Ashes Test against Australia, which kicks off the first touring Kangaroos series since 2003.

We're almost there. England versus Australia at Wembley, and I mean it when I say, as a group, I don't think we've ever been more ready than this.

It's the best England set-up I've been a part of, and I've been a part of it for 10 years now so I'm getting old.

I don't say that lightly. It's our best chance.

There's been a lot of talk over the past six months, and a lot of meetings with head coach Shaun Wane, and you walk out of those meetings wanting to play the game right there.

Now the game is upon us. I'm looking forward to his talk on Saturday because we'll be firing and ready to go.

This is what I did it for at Wigan St Pats at seven years old. You never think you'll reach these heights, as a kid with a dream. At 30, I'm still pinching myself that this is what I do. I love what I do. You can never get bored with this.

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It's taken lots of hard work from a fair few people, but as a group we're worlds apart from how it was even in 2015, 2016.

Obviously results are key and we've not been beaten since the World Cup semi-final in 2022 at the Emirates. We're undefeated over the past couple of years against good opposition, but it's more what we've built.

Waney talked about a 'club' feel to the squad. It's not always been like that.

Before, we said we'd do it and no-one would really ever do it. Now, I come in, sit down and I've got a St Helens player to my right, Owen Trout of Leigh on my left, and we're all mates.

Saints prop Alex Walmsley gave us a big compliment. He said: "I can't believe what you've built." He's been out of the programme for a few years, so for him to say that made me feel good. It was a pat on the back for all the lads who've built that over the last few years, Waney included.

Waney sets the standards for us. He's bothered about how we speak to waiters, how we talk to hotel staff. Do we clean up after ourselves? To him, it means everything.

They're good people, which doesn't make you a great player - but when you have good players and good people, it becomes a great environment.

Training has been intense, which is what you want. You come into the team and realise how good the players are we have around us.

We had belief from previous years, but sometimes out there on the paddock, it's a reminder of how good we really are.

The sessions have been so good, really slick. It's the first time I've heard Waney say, "Will you just chill out?" because everybody's running that quick and they're that keen to put their best foot forward.

Everything goes out of the window from the season gone. Training is ramped up because everyone wants to be in the Test side and everyone is making each other better.

When you're around good players, you get good energy, and it's a strong reminder of the stage you're at.

Camp has been good. It's nice to catch up with old faces as well as the new lads. We were talking last night: There are about six or seven of us who started with Waney first getting the job and there are who lads have joined that and grown through.

It was good to catch up with Herbie [Farnworth], but he's changed, you know. Now he's on the big money, I've been giving him a bit of stick, saying he's not humble any more. He's forgotten his Burnley roots.

AJ Brimson, new into the group, is a good fella. I went for a beer with Herbie and AJ when they first got here from Australia. They guilt-tripped me by saying that if I was a good captain, I'd come for a drink. I went and met them for a little bit.

AJ's really bought into it - he's passionate. We do this 'Life in Five' thing where you show five photos of your life and you've got to stand up and talk about them to the group.

Again, it's about connections and building an understanding with the new lads and the old lads. He spoke really passionately about things, his mum being English and why he's doing what he's doing, which is brilliant.

We looked at the Australia squad and respect the quality within it, we know they are full of great players. We had the same talk when we played Tonga and Samoa - they've got that many good players but we know what we've got now.

We can match it with anyone.

Their captain, Isaah Yeo, he's a good fella. I spent an hour before the press conference with him for the promotional photographs and he's a genuine bloke. He's at the top of his game right now.

I think the Kangaroos respect us now because of our previous form and results. They've come over here and got Willie Peters in. I think that's to do with his good knowledge of Super League - he's had a brilliant year with Hull KR.

We've also got some unknown lads that they won't have heard of, which is a strength of ours.

One player who might have a target on me is an old face from Canberra days. I lived with Hudson Young when I first got to Australia, so we're really good friends and I Face-Time him a few times a week, but our chat has minimised a bit over the last week or so.

We're getting into game mode, so there are fewer texts between us now. I look forward to playing against him.