Melbourne inspired by Manchester City visit

Football and Rugby League are well versed for rubbing shoulders with each other – especially in England, where some of the biggest events on the Rugby League calendar are hosted at football stadiums.

Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium is one such venue that won’t be on the calendar next year, after Magic Weekend was moved to Newcastle United’s St James’ Park. However, NRL side Melbourne Storm did pay a visit to the Etihad recently, with boss Craig Bellamy admitting they are now bursting with new ideas for the season ahead.

Bellamy admits that whilst City’s financial clout means there are some ideas they cannot implement, there were also stacks of ideas that the club can use in 2015.

“For a club that is so high profile, they were very humble and down to earth,” Bellamy said.

“We learnt a whole lot from them.

“There were some things that are certainly out of our financial reach, but they’ve got a lot of traditional values as well.

“It was really enlightening for us and we got some terrific information as well.”