Have you heard the one about the Englishman and the Kiwi? It's no joke.
In fact it could be the key to St George Illawarra's premiership aspirations in 2015.
Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop endured an inconsistent start to the 2014 NRL season as then-coach Steve Price struggled to land on Sam Williams or Michael Witt as the team's other half.
It wasn't until former New Zealand Test captain Benji Marshall threw in the towel on his rugby union experiment and signed with the Red V in May that Widdop finally found a compatible halves partner.
The pair played 15 games together for the club and won seven.
The Dragons failed to squeeze into the competition's top-eight come finals time but Marshall's arrival, as well as the promotion of Paul McGregor to the role of caretaker coach, almost pushed them over the line.
Nine months on from their first meeting, Widdop is confident he and Marshall have formed a formidable partnership in the six and seven jumpers.
See your ad here And a full pre-season together could be just what's needed to steer the Red V to a finals berth.
‘‘Benji coming in halfway through the year last year it's always going to be hard, no matter what type of player you are,'' Widdop said.
‘‘This year he's had the last six weeks, and I've just come in now, but we have three or four weeks of solid work together so it's certainly going to help.
‘‘I think from day one the coach expects certain things out of individuals and obviously we've all got our roles to play within the team.
‘‘As a halves combination if you're strong and drive the team, generally you have a fair bit of success.
‘‘We just want to work together as best as possible and help the team as much as we can.''
Widdop only returned to the club last week after an extended break away from football following his Four Nations campaign with England in November.
He spent the first training session introducing himself to a number of new faces to sign with the Dragons over the off-season.
Among them are 31-year-old George Rose, 29-year-old Heath L'Estrange, and 26-year-old Kris Keating.
Widdop, 25, says his confidence in the squad is greater than this time last year.
‘‘They've got a lot of experience which I think this team's been lacking the last year or two.
‘‘I think it's a positive having those experienced guys in such a young team."
Do you think some extra experience will help the Dragons this season?
