Collingwood’s loss to GWS in the AFL preliminary final has been the Storm’s gain, with rugby league posts erected on the Magpies' sacred training ground ahead of Melbourne's showdown against the Roosters in Saturday night's NRL grand final qualifier at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Collingwood ground, which sits between the Magpies headquarters and Storm’s AAMI Park home, is configured in the same circular shape as the SCG.

The Storm train at Collingwood's Holden Centre training ground on Tuesday morning. Credit:AAP

No Storm player other than captain Cameron Smith, who represented Australia in a Test match, has ever played at the SCG, nor have the Melbourne-based NRL team ever played there. It is now the temporary home of the Roosters while the adjacent Sydney Football Stadium is rebuilt.

Rugby league goal posts replaced the four AFL posts at either end of the Collingwood ground and the field was marked perfectly with white lines ahead of the Storm’s 9.45am training session on Tuesday. Even the triangular shaped advertising boards of sponsors were positioned a safe distance from the sideline.