He doesn’t coach by the rule book and now NSW Waratahs mentor Michael Cheika has found a novel way to alert Cam Crawford that he’s filling Israel Folau’s giant boots this weekend against Queensland.

With Folau on Thursday ruled out of Saturday night’s Super Rugby derby, Cheika turned to Crawford.

But the call-up didn’t come via a phone call, text or an old-fashioned tap on the shoulder at training.

“I told him in traffic this morning when I pulled up next to him on Anzac Parade,” Cheika said.

“I wound the window down and told him he was playing. I wasn’t really sure if that was the right thing to do or not, but he seemed to enjoy it.

“Then I just wound the window up and didn’t give him the chance to talk back to me.

“It’s a new strategy. I haven’t done that before.

“It was good. He was very good about it, I thought. It was cool. He was into it.”

With Folau having scored 12 tries from 11 games this campaign to be the competition’s leading tryscorer, Cheika wouldn’t deny the dual international would be missed against the Reds.

Crawford, though, bagged eight five-pointers in seven games from the wing last season for the Tahs to be the competition’s second-highest tryscorer behind only Blues winger Frank Halai.

“I’m really confident in him because he’s delivered for us many times over the past 18, 19 months since we’ve been together,” Cheika said.

Unless there’s another injury, this will almost certainly be Crawford’s last game for the finals-bound Waratahs before joining the Melbourne Rebels next season.

“Even though we’re sad to see him go, we still want to give him the opportunity to contribute to his team,” Cheika said.

“Cam’s job this week – be strong under the high ball and, when the lines are on to run, hit them.

“That’s his opportunity to do that.”