Don’t forget the sunscreen, lads.

It’s a simple but important message as Super League champions St Helens spend the next couple of days acclimatising to Sydney’s stifling heat.

The players soaked up the morning sun walking down the Manly promenade yesterday morning as the miserable cold weather back home in the north of England felt like a distant memory.

Some players had worked up a sweat by 9am, while club chief executive Mike Rush has already suffered a bad case of sunburn.

Most of the players were tempted to cool off in the surf, but still had the image of a shark mauling a dolphin at the same beach just a couple of weeks back fresh in their minds.

As the mercury surged to 28 degrees celsius on the northern beaches, St Helens coach Paul Wellens explained how he had “still been knocking the ice off the windscreen” before he flew out for Australia.

St Helens, who have won the past four titles back home, will trial against St George Illawarra next Saturday ahead of the World Club Challenge the following Saturday against Penrith at BlueBet Stadium from 6pm. However, the immediate focus will be adapting to the conditions, which would have felt like a furnace at Narrabeen Sports Complex at lunchtime, and where they will train again today.

“The heat is not completely alien to us, and last year we flew to Perpignan to play Catalans, as well as flying to Toulouse, where we went from 10 or 12 degrees to playing in 30-degree heat,” Wellens said.