If the old adage of great minds thinking alike holds any truth, then Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has fitting company in Melbourne Storm boss Craig Bellamy, with the two sharing valuable ideas during Super Rugby Pacific's Magic Round last weekend.
As the competition based itself in Melbourne last weekend, the trans-Tasman trip gave Robertson and Bellamy to pick each other's brains, with both standing tall as arguably their competitions' finest coaches.
In 19 seasons as head coach of Melbourne Storm, Bellamy has won five NRL premierships - albeit with two of them stripped for salary cap breaches - and reached the grand final nine times.
As coach of the Crusaders, Robertson has also won five titles, three in Super Rugby, and a further two as part of the New Zealand-exclusive Super Rugby Aotearoa.
And before his side's victory over Melbourne Rebels on Sunday, Robertson and Wallabies coach Dave Rennie attended the Storm's training, as they prepare to face NZ Warriors in their Anzac Day clash on Monday night.
"It was their captain's run," Robertson said of the catch up. "We went into a couple of meetings.
"It was good, it was different. They show a few more clips than us, they talk through the game a little bit more in depth.
"We probably give ownership to the players a little bit more about what they think, and start to own the game at the end of the week.
"But it's great, it's a different way of doing it. There's no right way, it's just the way. You're always doing little bits along the way, a bit of gold to pick up."
Never one to stick to convention, Robertson outlined the importance of being able to call on coaches from other codes, with the ability to see his own game from a different perspective.
Bellamy himself is no stranger to sharing knowledge with other coaches either, and has interacted with the All Blacks on a number of times during his tenure with Melbourne.
"You get in your own four walls a lot," Robertson added. "Each year you've got to find ways to get better.
"When you go to other teams, you might only get one or two little things that might tweak some of your philosophy stuff, or be a really big idea you know you're going to run with.
"When other people do it, you share those experiences, you get the best out of them."
But Robertson also joked that the sharing of knowledge wasn't the only reason for his meeting with Bellamy.
And as a continuation of the cross-code tug of war between rugby league and rugby union, Robertson stoked the flames of what would be an exciting prospect for both clubs - even if said in jest.
"Craig's trying to sign Richie Mo'unga, and exchange him for Cam Munster," Robertson joked. "But I don't know if we could handle Cam, with the salary cap and what Richie's probably going to get paid, I don't know if they could do that deal.
"Jokes aside, they're a great club. One year we used them as our theme, purple rain, a lot of their trademarks. The standards and behaviour that they use are really well aligned.
"We do a lot of work with them. It's a great relationship."
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