DOMINIQUE Peyroux is aiming for double top as St Helens go for the tag of ‘best team in the world’ – with the help of ‘tight’ sponsor darts pro Michael Smith.
The PDC star, who is in action in the Premier League tonight, supports the back-rower’s shirt, as he has done for the last two years.
And even though rugby league and darts may seem at opposite ends of the sporting spectrum, the pair share mental tips on getting to the top.
Saints ace Peyroux, whose side takes on NRL champions Sydney Roosters in Saturday’s World Club Challenge after winning Super League last year, said: “He’s pretty busy but we get together every now and then.
“We’ve met up a few times and the pressures of our sports are similar. He told me how he copes with the pressure, saying the best thing to do is relax.
“It’s about the way you deal with it – just chill, do what you can do and fall into the flow of the game.
“I’ve given him my shirt but he’s a pretty tight fella, so he hasn’t really given me any of his!”
Peyroux may be a New Zealander by birth, a Cook Islander at Test level and an adopted citizen of St Helens but Sydney played a huge part in his life.
Put simply, he would not be a rugby league player if it was not for the Roosters – he would probably be working in a gym or as a fitness trainer.
Instead, a well-timed holiday to see his cousin set him on the road to a possible world championship.
The 31-year-old recalled: “I was 16 or 17 on holiday and they had an open trial, so it was awesome for them to give me a shot at the start of my journey as a rugby league player.
“My cousin had heard there was a trial. I was there and he said, ‘You want to go to a trial?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sweet.’
“Then we had three to go to and I made them all. They said, ‘We’ve got a pot for you on the wing.’
“I was just so happy. For a kid from New Zealand to go to Australia and make a big club like the Roosters was awesome.
“It was crazy how it came about. I don’t know what I’d have done had that not happened or where I’d be. I suppose I’d be in the fitness industry somewhere.
“I played with the Roosters’ Under-18s and Under-20s side, so it’s a bit surreal to be playing against them in a game of this magnitude.
“Jake Friend was in the same side as me. It’s awesome to see him and he still has the leadership qualities he had back then.”
Saints boss Kristian Woolf insists centre Mark Percival ‘has a chance’ of playing even though he requires surgery on a shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out for up to four months.
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