THE answer to one of rugby league's favourite trivia questions - who played in all three grand finals on the one day? - has returned to Australia after a near 20-year absence.

Chris Guider, the diminutive hooker who played for St George in 1985 - winning the under-23 and reserve-grade grand finals but losing the big one 7-6 to Canterbury - has been living in Hollywood, associating with movie stars, particularly Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

"I've played basketball with Tom Cruise, with him driving the lane and proving he's a lot more than just an image on the movie screen," Guider said.

"I've jogged with John Travolta to get him into shape for one of his movie roles and answered his questions - why no pads and no helmets are worn by those crazy guys down under that play rugby.

"I've raced along the eight-lane freeways of Los Angeles to an Angels baseball game in [Oscar-winning filmmaker] Paul Haggis's Porsche and watched the game in a private box with an all-you-can-eat delicious banquet. I've answered all those American questions about how I managed to play rugby and keep all my teeth."

The link? Scientology, a big deal in Hollywood. Guider was a full-time staffer at its centre on Sunset Boulevard.

Guider is happily prepared to go on the record on Scientology, which enjoys the tax status of a religion in the US but is often perceived as a cult here. He also volunteered his aim to create what he calls "an ideal Scientology organisation here in Sydney".

Guider also wants to reconnect with St George Illawarra, having written a job application to incoming coach Wayne Bennett whom the ex-Tamworth lad first met at a training session at Kogarah in 1986.

Isn't Scientology at odds with modern medicine insofar as the club doctor would tell the injured player one course of treatment, while Scientology preaches another direction?

"There is no conflict, quite the contrary," he says. "People practising Scientology visit your GP and seek medical assistance for anything that goes wrong with the body. There is, however, a discovery in Scientology that around an injured person one should remain quiet because anything that the person experiences during that time is recorded in the unconscious mind and can react later on the person adversely."

It would have been a little difficult asking the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground to hush if Guider has been injured but, of course, he never was.

"Since I started Scientology and while I was playing, I never missed a game," he said, suggesting he did find a way to short-circuit the notion that the pain in games stays mainly on the brain.

"I would get the normal medical treatments but also do what Scientology calls 'assists' to get over any injuries fast without having to use any drugs.

"I also had a lot of sauna treatment on what is called the 'purification rundown' and got rid of all those bad toxins and chemical traces left in my body from earlier in my life. In modern living, one accumulates these toxins and poisons over the years and they adversely affect your performance.

"Through the purification rundown, which I did mid-1985, I went from being extremely fatigued after just one game in late 1984 to a point where I played three championship games in one day, all grand finals."

Guider's teammate, the late Steve Rogers, nicknamed him "Tattoo" after a character on the TV show, Fantasy Island.

He was one of the smallest men ever to play the code, so slight you'd swear he would be knocked over by a butterfly's burp.

Consequently, he became a target for giants such as Manly's Noel "Crusher" Cleal, an indication that spotting players is not, as many coaches like to think, a recent invention. He was also very creative around the ruck, directing play, a skill which he transferred to Hollywood.

"I worked as an executive on production sets, making films and videos, casting talent, drilling them on their parts and stage manners, overseeing set construction, producing props, getting backdrops made and keeping in co-ordination and scheduling all parts of the production company," he said.

Guider reached a senior position within Scientology.

"I passed through rigorous training programs and learnt professional-level pastoral counselling and delivered it, aiding people overcome their self doubts and reach the highest levels of performance," he said.

"The recipients included directors, actors, writers and co-workers, athletes and many others, delivering to them a service that enabled them to overcome and approach life or the task at hand with confidence and success they would not otherwise have had."

He has seen little NRL on US television but believes he can make a contribution via pastoral programs. "Scientology has programs that promote and educate people, especially young children about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol use," he said. "What I have learnt from being in it reinforces a common moral code titled 'the way to happiness' which gives one a stable way to handle moral living without resorting to drugs, or criminal acts taken out of desperation."

Apart from seeking to establish an "ideal org" of Scientology in Sydney, he wants "to also ignite the fire with my old football club, St George Illawarra and get them back to the top of rugby league".

What about Scientology's reputation for proselytising and recruiting and the cyber campaign of "Anonymous", the group of ex-Scientologists protesting its activities. Isn't it a form of thought-control religion?

"Do I look brainwashed to you?" he said, as if life for him has been more than the answer to a trivia question.