Aiden Riley tries to cool down with a wet towel over his head on Sunday at AAMI Stadium. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser
CROWS coach Brenton Sanderson is favouring a return to night football in the AFL pre-season to protect players from the danger of summer heat.
Sanderson left the oppressive sweatbox of AAMI Stadium on Sunday - where the Crows, Port Adelaide and St Kilda were asked to play in temperatures reaching 38.7C - questioning why the NAB Cup was not played as night games spread from Fridays to Mondays in February and March.
"We probably should play all games at this time of the year at night, but it is not great for the broadcasters, is it?" said Sanderson.
"Play Friday, Saturday, Sunday and maybe Monday nights in the pre-season - all night games. Thursday night even."
This adds to the debate sparked by the AFL not invoking a heat policy at West Lakes where the 20/20 tripleheader on Sunday started at 4.10pm - the hottest point of the day.
The expectation of the 20-minute halves being reduced by two-and-a-half minutes was batted away by the AFL which, according to St Kilda coach Scott Watters, offered each team two extra water carriers to care for the players.
"We have to have a close look at the heat policy," says Watters.
"The only adjustment was two extra water carriers.
"Our players were under a fair bit of pressure in the second half. We tried our best to rotate them, but when you're playing in that sort of heat it's testing, particularly for younger players."
The evolution of the NAB Cup from a night series to a pre-season competition with games - even the final - played during the day has been forced by broadcasting needs and the AFL's push from city centres to country venues, many of which do not have floodlighting suitable for AFL night games.
The AFL, which loses money on the pre-season series, also is seeking to minimise costs.
The 4.10pm start to the triple-header at West Lakes on Sunday allowed St Kilda to leave Adelaide before the airport curfew and saved the AFL the cost of booking the Saints in a hotel for an overnight stay.
But the cost of player welfare is now difficult for the AFL to ignore as clubs question the safety of playing pre-season games under a summer sun.
Port Adelaide is at risk of being cooked in its next two NAB Cup games - at Renmark against Melbourne at 4pm on Sunday week and at Alice Springs against West Coast at 7pm on March 9.
Power football operations chief Peter Rohde yesterday declared his concerns for his club's players.
"It's going to be difficult to manage if you've got really hot weather in Renmark and Alice," he said.
"When the draw came out, we were disappointed we were playing in regional towns twice in a row - and then add in the hot weather.
"The real issues are going to come in the next few weeks when you're only allowed three interchange players and the substitute (rather than six on the bench as on Sunday) - and then have a cap on just 20 rotations a quarter."
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley yesterday urged the AFL to re-think capping rotations in the NAB Cup.
"I can understand the AFL's want to gather information about the cap on rotations and try to make it as realistic as possible with a three and one interchange bench," he said.
"But if we're playing in 35-degree-plus conditions, whether it's Collingwood or any other team, I think there's a duty of care to the playing group to make sure that we shuffle things a little bit to make sure players aren't under undue duress at this stage of the season in particular."
The NAB road tour of the Australian countryside also deprives AFL teams the state-of-the-art medical facilities they have at their city venues.
These were critical for Adelaide in dealing with their players after their 20/20 opener against St Kilda while waiting for the "Summer Showdown" clash against the Power.
While the Port players were under a scorching sun facing the Saints, the Crows were in a perfect recovery program in their multi million-dollar facility at West Lakes.
"It suited us having the break," said Sanderson, noting how both St Kilda and Port wilted during their second 20/20 games.
"With the conditions, we had the advantage here with our changerooms to put our players in the cold baths and the pool so the players could at least cool off, have a shower and change jumpers."
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