England centre Mark Percival has revealed how St Helens teammate Ben Barba helped transform him into a player capable of holding down a regular Test position.
Percival, 24, was considered a frontline contender to play in the big games at last year's World Cup but ended up only turning out against France, with converted back-rower John Bateman preferred by coach Wayne Bennett in the three-quarters.
But Percival's ship seems to have come in at land-locked Denver for Saturday's Test against New Zealand, with incumbent Kallum Watkins out for the rest of the year due to a knee injury.
Widnes-born Percival credits Barba, tipped to return to the NRL in 2019, with giving him the composure to take the next step in his career
"I just think he's a legend," Percval told AAP. "I used to watch some of his clips when he was in the NRL, scoring all these mad tries. I used to love watching him.
"To actually play with him and watch him every week, he's sort of teaching me how to play and keep calm. He knows what I'm like. I'm quite a hot-head on the pitch.
"If I do start getting a bit frustrated, he keeps me calm. And just watching him play, he's brilliant. He's still one of the best players in the world for me."
Asked if he thought Saints could hold onto Barba, favourite for the Man of Steel Award for Super League's best, Percival smiled. "I'm not sure. Money might come into that."
Ticket sales are the subject of much speculation for the for the Test in the US, which was opposed by many NRL clubs. The upper deck of Sports Authority Field at Mile High will not be opened, if the Ticketmaster page for the event is to be believed. But visibility around the city for the event is good.
Englishman Ben Thaler will be referee. The teams enjoyed a guided tour of downtown Denver by tuk tuk on Thursday morning. New Zealand coach Michael Maguire has held off naming his final line-up so far.
Percival said: "It's brilliant to go to Denver and play a rugby league game and it was exciting to know if you played well, you gave yourself a chance.
"You hear the rumours and you think if it gets called off it will be a shame because it's going to be a massive, exciting week for rugby league.
"It's brilliant - I've been a lot of awesome places through rugby. I spent eight weeks in Oz, seen some beaches, great places with the lads."
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