NOT that a man who has played 10 times for Queensland should need it, of course, but Saints' star Chris Flannery has been taking ball handling tips from the sea-lions at Knowsley Safari Park.

Weeks of practice have gone into the training session and if early indications are anything to go by Saints could have a new half back partnership forming!

The three stars of the Knowsley sea-lion show have now been trained to catch rugby balls in their act.

Safari Park general manager, David Ross, explained: "We're situated in a big rugby league area here, so we thought it was high time that we made the move from the round ball to the oval ball and got involved with the Saints.

"Our three performers - Max, Biffo and Arthur - are very clever animals and soon got the hang of the different shape and they're now handling the oval ball like pros!"

Emma Knight, Saints' community marketing manager, added: "Max and his sea-lion pals at Knowsley are backing Flanno and the team on the road to Wembley and are now showing off their rugby skills by making them a permanent feature in the daily sea-lion shows at the safari park."