THE tour party spent a relaxing few hours at Taronga Zoo today before undertaking their final training session in readiness for Penrith, writes Neil Kilshaw.
The zoo was a first for a St Helens tour squad and replaced the scheduled visit to the Blue Mountains. During our trip NSW has had a tough time battling Bush Fires and the Blue Mountains have been inaccessible for visitors.
The players, in particular Dave Eccleston and Jonah Cunningham, were very excited about seeing Kangaroos, Koalas and Crocodiles and the zoo didn’t disappoint.
As ever ridiculous questions were plentiful. Dave Eccleston enquired whether it would be best to put after sun on before or after going in the sun.
My favourite of the day was a conversation between Leo, Connor Smith and Liam Forsyth.
Connor: “Will it be safe going in there, what if an Emu chases me?”
Leo: “It’ll be ok, the Emus aren’t allowed to walk on the paths.”
Liam: “Oh great, come on.”
And off they toddled with blind faith in nature’s ability to adhere to the rules…
The key part of the day was the evening training session and the players approached it in determined, focussed and relaxed mood.
We are all confident of putting in a level of performance that befits the quality of the players and their progression as a group since a tough start at St George.
The game will be played at 6pm Saturday evening (local time – 8am british time) at the Centrebet Stadium, Penrith.
Enjoy the pictures.
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