Why Tri Colours were no accidental tourists in the City of Lights
Nick Politis would have had heart palpitations hearing that more than half-a-dozen of his Sydney Roosters stars had been on scooters and struggling to work out the traffic signs in the back streets of Paris, where they have set up camp to prepare for the World Club Challenge.
But the Roosters chairman can rest assured his premiers know the way to another premiership.
The mood in the camp is high after the Roosters arrived in France last weekend and immediately played tourists in the City of Love. Skipper Boyd Cordner had a giggle about the Wednesday afternoon scoot around the busy Parisian streets.
"It was like the blind leading the blind,'' Cordner said.
"We were trying to get used to the traffic and the cars coming in the other direction. There were crossings that weren't really crossings. It was a lot of fun.''
Cordner said there were two good reasons the Roosters could break the 25-year hoodoo and become the first team to go back-to-back in a unified competition since Brisbane in 1992-93.
"Cooper Cronk and James Tedesco,'' Cordner told the Sun-Herald from England, ahead of Monday morning's World Club Challenge against Wigan.
"We had a couple of big signings last year in Cooper and Teddy. We didn't have the start to the year we wanted, but the way we finished the year, and with another pre-season under their belt and them knowing the systems and how Trent [Robinson] coaches, I think we will be better for it.
"They're senior players. Cooper has been at the top of his game for his whole career.
"Teddy took his game to another level last year. They are two massive players for us and two big reasons why we will go well – if they are playing good footy, you'll find most of our team will follow and feed off that.''
Cronk won over a new legion of fans when he played the entire grand final with a broken scapula.
If Cordner is asked about how his club can win successive titles on a daily basis, Cronk can expect similar persistent inquiries when it comes to speculation about his own future beyond this year.
Cordner feels he achieved everything in the game last year, which also included captaining the NSW Origin team to a series win and a chance to lead the Kangaroos.
"[But] I want to win the comp again,'' the 26-year-old said.
"Will it be harder? Yes, it will be. Will there be new challenges? Yes, there will be. This year will be totally different to last season. The end result is to still win the competition.''
The Roosters have recruited Angus Crichton, a NSW Origin back-rower, the experienced Brett Morris and Englishman Ryan Hall, who is recovering from an ACL injury but still made the trip back to his homeland.
After posing in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, the players trained on Monday, visited the Anzac memorials in the Somme, in the country's north, on Tuesday, then had a hit-out against coach Robinson's former club Toulouse on Wednesday.
Robinson even conducted a range of interviews during the week in French.
The Roosters had an opposed session against St Helens on Friday and then took time to watch the first half of the All Stars game in which Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell played.
One player Cordner was prepared to pump up was winger Daniel Tupou, who will no doubt be forced to take a lot more early hit-ups now Blake Ferguson has joined rivals Parramatta.
"I think he's ready to take his game to another level,'' he said.
Cordner is desperate to win the World Club Challenge, and there is plenty of appeal about being crowned 'world champions', the cheeky term that was branded on billboards splashed across the US in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
"It's been at the forefront of my mind for a while, and the idea of the best in Australia going up against the best in England is a great concept and there's a lot of history behind it,'' Cordner said.
The Roosters are looking to create their own history.