AFL COACH Leon Cameron is crossing codes in his bid to give Greater Western Sydney the competitive edge in 2017.
Cameron has been a conspicuous presence at the Giants' home ground Spotless Stadium, where he observed A-League grand finalists Western Sydney training last week and picked the brain of coach Tony Popovic.
Having guided his rapidly improving squad to last season's preliminary final, the focus now is to push the competition's youngest club even further in its sixth campaign.
That means soaking up as much information as possible, and Cameron said there was much to learn from the Wanderers' infamously rigorous training regime.
"We spent half an hour or 40 minutes talking about what he does and what we do," Cameron told AAP.
"We're always looking for ways to prepare our boys training-wise, and there's no doubt the Wanderers have a very good program."
The two sports have distinct differences in the type of athlete they require, Cameron with a wider range of physical builds and fitness to manage as he accommodates for a contested game.
"But there are similarities, and we can gain so much looking at how they train, their intensity ... their speed and agility is far better than ours," he said.
"They've got really good systems here, so when people come in they know exactly what is expected, whether it's training standards, tactics or set plays.
"We're going to spend a bit more time watching them throughout the weeks when they have really intense sessions, and then game nights when they play as well."
Cross-code ties are nothing new in Australia, as coaches have been quick to both recognise and harvest the benefits of shared knowledge.
Popovic has a strong relationship with Sydney coach John Longmire and South Sydney NRL boss Michael Maguire.
Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold counts rugby league coaching legend Wayne Bennett among his mentors, while Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is good mates with Roosters boss Trent Robinson.
"You'd be silly not to, because if you sit there in your own little world thinking you know everything, that's the day you probably fall over," Cameron said.
"It feels like we do a lot of things right but there's no doubt we're not perfect, so you're probably looking for that competitive advantage somewhere else.
"Whether it's watching Tony prepare his team training-wise, or specifics on how they coach, if you ignore that then failure is probably around the corner."
