The last thing you expect to see is an NRL coach in an AFL coaches box on gameday.
But that's exactly what was seen in the Hawthorn box as they defeated the Bulldogs by 22 points at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
After three consecutive losses, and all performances lacking tackling skills and pressure, Hawks coach Sam Mitchell turned to North Queensland Cowboys counterpart Todd Payten for inspiration.
Payten's presence among the Hawthorn coaching panel appeared to have an impact with the Hawks winning the tackle count 82-76.
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The improvement in tackling and pressure comes after Collingwood smashed Hawthorn 82-38 in tackles last round and had more forward-half tackles (44) than the Hawks had over the entire field.
"The boys were making a bit of a joke that I had him just to make sure they tackled well because if not they might get tackled by him (Payten)," Mitchell said post-match.
"No, Todd and I have struck up a bit of a relationship together.
"I spent a bit of time in the pre-season with them and went and looked in their coaches box in a practice match against Melbourne Storm down in Casey. I shadowed him for a day and just learned about how they go about things. You can learn things from other codes.
"They've got the Storm tomorrow night so I had him along. He was part of the preparation for the game. I'm looking forward to chatting to him about what he learned, but more importantly for me, what he thinks we can improve on and how we can do things better.
"He has a fairly different demeanour to what I have. Learning from him is something I have taken a lot of growth from my coaching from Todd. I'm looking forward to hearing what he thought tonight."