Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has turned to his brother-in-law, Phil Veivers, in a bid to get the lowdown on St. Helens ahead of the two sides' World Club Challenge match today.
The fixture pits the Broncos, champions of Australia's National Rugby League, against St. Helens, their equivalents in the England-based Super League.
Australian Veivers played more than 300 games for the Saints between 1984 and 1996 but is now a member of the coaching staff at arch rivals Wigan, both clubs based in the English northwest league heartland of Lancashire.
"Wayne's a smart cookie and he does a lot of homework," Veivers told the Guardian. "If I can help him out with what certain players do and stuff like that, then of course I will."
"We speak most weeks and it's always about [rugby league] football," he said.
Previous editions of the World Club Challenge, a one-off match, have acted as a curtain-raiser to the Super League season.
But today's game at Bolton Wanderers football club's Reebok Stadium, close to Saints's own Knowsley Road base, comes, at Brisbane's request, with the English season already in progress and the Super League champions in something of a slump following back-to-back defeats.
The winners of all three major trophies last season, Saints have started this campaign with defeats against Harlequins and Wakefield.
St. Helens coach Daniel Anderson labeled last weekend's 29-22 loss to Trinity as the most embarrassing during his time with the club after they squandered an 18-6 lead while conceding four second-half tries.
"I need to work harder with them and I will," said Anderson of his players as they faced the prospect of becoming the first St. Helens team to lose three game in a row since the end of the 2005 season.
One encouraging omen for St. Helens was that back in 2001 they beat Brisbane in the World Club Challenge with a side more lightly regarded than their current team.
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