Australian coach Ricky Stuart has warned fullback Billy Slater to avoid sliding feet-first into opponents in the rugby league World Cup, fearing his star could get suspended.

Slater's tactic of using his feet to try to prevent opposition players scoring prompted a warning from the tournament's match review committee that it was dangerous and would no longer be tolerated.

No one from the Kangaroos camp would comment, but a team spokesman said Stuart had addressed the issue with Slater since Australia's 30-6 win over New Zealand last Sunday night, when the Melbourne Storm player slid into the Kiwi Jerome Ropati.

Australia can ill-afford suspension worries, given half-back Johnathan Thurston and utility Kurt Gidley are injured and in doubt for the match against England on Sunday night at Telstra Dome.

Thurston starred against New Zealand despite the death of his uncle the day before, but injured his shoulder.

He and Gidley, who is battling knee soreness, did not train at Olympic Park on Tuesday and had scans instead.

Thurston's injury is especially concerning, given his history of shoulder problems - he underwent reconstructions at the end of the 2007 season.

Winger Israel Folau admitted losing would be a major blow, but he was also confident Australia had sufficient depth in the squad to cover his absence.

"He's one of our key players in our side so if he's not there on Sunday it's a massive loss for us," Folau said.

"But we've got a few other players who can fill in for his spot, which is pretty good for us."

The ease of Australia's opening win has critics predicting a one-sided tournament, given that New Zealand are considered by many as the Kangaroos' major threat.

England are considered the only other side capable of pushing the home side, but they also struggled on the weekend to beat Papua New Guinea 32-22 in Townsville.

Australian players expected England to be better for their first hit-out, and lock Paul Gallen predicted a very physical clash after being impressed by the size of the England players when the two teams gathered at Government House.

"They're very willing and they're very big too," Gallen said.

"I went to a function yesterday with them and they were towering over me, which isn't that hard, but they're all big blokes and they met a pretty competitive team the other night.

"They've probably got a bit of cobwebs out of them on the flight over and it's obviously pretty hot up there, so it's going to be a real tough game for us."

Folau conceded he knew little about the England side, but he believes he can improve on his impressive performance on the weekend, which included two tries.

"Definitely, there's heaps of improvement in my game, so I want to work on that pretty hard this week to try to get it right to help the team out," he said.

"... I got a lot of confidence out of last week's game, so I'm pretty confident in going in to work things out and trying to get it right."

Telstra Dome officials expect a crowd of more than 40,000.

About 28,000 tickets have already been sold.

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