Inglis was almost unstoppable as he toyed with rugby union-bound opposite Lee Smith when Australia defeated England 26-16 in its Four Nations clash in Wigan early yesterday.

The Melbourne ace scored one try and had a hand in three of the other four during a dominant first-half display.

It was enough for Sheens to evoke comparisons with former Test skipper Mal Meninga, the only player to go on four Kangaroos tours.

England was unable to handle the unique mix of size, speed, strength and composure of Inglis.

''He's an extremely good player,'' Sheens said. ''We can't rely on just going to Greg all the time but he is in the Meninga mould and all of the great centres that Australia has produced, he's certainly up there with those.

''He's got a long way to go before he achieves those heights but he's certainly well on his way.''

And the bigger the occasion, the better Inglis seems to perform.

While he has been accused of drifting out of NRL matches, there is no doubting his performances in the green and gold of Australia or the Maroon of Queensland.

Asked if he thought it was one his better displays for Australia, Inglis said, ''I don't know. I don't replay my videos. I just go about my business.''

Halfback Johnathan Thurston was in no such doubt. ''He's a freak,'' Thurston said.

''Maybe last week [in the draw with New Zealand] we got into just trying to give him the ball for him to do something. This week we punched forward a bit more and exposed them on the edges.

''That was the game plan. It was good to see it work.''

Inglis's dominance included a runaway 80m try after a Danny McGuire pass found the ground and Thurston fed the ball to Inglis.

Thurston said there was never any question whether he was going to score. ''As soon as I gave him the ball I was just walking with my hands up,'' he said. AAP