IT has been a busy first few days on the Academy tour of Australia - leading up to tomorrow's first game against North Sydney Bears.

Not only have the young Saints seen the sights of Sydney, but they have trained at Penrith Panthers home and Parramatta, met the club's new Head Coach Kristian Woolf and trained with the Tonga squad.

An unexpected invite from new boss Woolf, saw the team head over to the New South Wales Rugby League Centre of Excellence to meet him and his Tonga Rugby League Squad and to watch them in training as they prepare for their upcoming international matches.

It was an opportunity for the lads to rub shoulders with some of the world's star players such as Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fafita who chatted and offered advice to the boys.

Also with the Tongan squad was ex-Saint, 2014 grand final winner Willie Manu.

In their last training session they met Kevin Naiqama and the rest of the Fiji 9’s squad - but the real business starts tomorrow.