St Helens hooker James Roby looks set for an England recall as coach Wayne Bennett prepares to announce his World Cup squad.

Roby, who turns 32 in November, has not played for his country since 2015 but he has rediscovered some of the best form of his career during the second half of the 2017 Super League season and that is likely to earn him a place in Bennett's 24-man squad which will be unveiled at noon on Monday.

Roby became a virtual ever-present in the national team after making his debut 11 years ago - he was in the last Great Britain team to beat Australia, courtesy of a 23-12 Tri-Nations Series triumph in Sydney in 2006 - but has been overlooked in recent years due to the emergence of Josh Hodgson and Daryl Clark.

Clark (Warrington) and Paul McShane (Castleford) are the other specialist hookers in the 27-strong Super League-based elite training squad while Danny Houghton (Hull) remains an outside chance.

Hodgson, the former Hull KR captain who is now a mainstay of the Canberra Raiders team, is sure to get a call-up but Press Association Sport understands that Roby has got the nod to travel to Australia as back-up.

The squad will be finalised by Bennett after receiving the 24-man squads chosen separately by his four assistant coaches, Denis Betts, Paul Anderson, Paul Sculthorpe and Paul Wellens, with the veteran Australian having the final say.

Bennett watched Saturday's Grand Final on television from his Brisbane home and was checking on the fitness of Leeds second rower Stevie Ward after he made a rapid recovery from a dislocated shoulder to play the full 80 minutes in Leeds' 24-6 win over Castleford at Old Trafford.

Speaking immediately after the match, Ward admitted the shoulder, which was reconstructed in 2013, was feeling sore.

"There's going to be a few conversations with physios and specialists," he said. "Whether I'm picked or not, it's still to be announced. There's some thinking to be done but I'm going to relax tonight."

Ward was a late call-up for the 2016 Four Nations Series and, although he was not called on, he kept his place in the elite training squad.

However, with serious doubt over his fitness, Bennett is likely to opt instead for Warrington second rower Ben Currie, who has had his own share of injury problems over the last 12 months.

Currie was set to make his England debut before seriously damaging his knee towards the end of last season and he missed the first five months of the 2017 campaign.

England will fly out on Thursday for a 10-day training camp in Perth, where they will play a warm-up game against an Australian Affiliated States team to prepare them for their opening World Cup group fixture with holders and hosts Australia in Melbourne on October 27.