Source: Radio New Zealand
Auckland FC players Nando Pijnaker and Hiroki Sakai feeling the effects of A-League football. photosport
Heat preparedness actions that might have seemed unnecessary a couple of weeks ago could save Auckland FC as soon as this weekend.
Even before the temperatures in Australia were rising to record levels, at their training base in Albany Auckland FC players were training in jackets, reminiscent of raincoats, while the sun shone to ready themselves for hot temperatures during A-League games across the Tasman.
The “heat exposure” jackets and three times a week sauna sessions are part of what the players are doing this season to bridge the gap between home and away conditions.
When the players were spotted in training wearing the jackets earlier this month they understood why they were doing it but with temperatures forecast to be in the early 20 degrees Celsius for that weekend’s games a couple of players were also slightly scoffing at why it was necessary that week.
At the time coach Steve Corica explained the jackets were “to acclimatise to the heat in Australia” and acknowledged it was part of a broader plan that looked beyond just the next game.
On Saturday Auckland are away to Perth Glory where the team believes temperatures could be in the early thirties when they kick off at 6.45pm local time.
This week the preparations for warmer weather have continued and on the eve of leaving for the 13 hour trip to Perth (via a stop-off in Melbourne) defender Louis Verstraete explained that Wednesday was a sauna day – one of at least three they would have in a week.
“We do 30 minutes sauna exposure so we try to get as much heat exposure as possible… we started doing it last year and this is a big help for us.
“We re-create a little bit of the same conditions as in Australia.”
For everything done before game day, Nando Pijnaker said the players also had to pay attention to what they did when the first whistle blew.
“We speak a lot about managing the game because sometimes when the temperature is so hot you can’t be running hard for 90 minutes, there’s got to be times where we play a little bit at a lower intensity but we still want to go out there and we still want to score goals we still want to perform really well and that’s the plan.”
Some weeks multiple A-League games can be impacted extreme heat conditions.
Teams take a drinks break in extreme heat during the A-League Men Round 5 match between Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Sunday, 24 November, 2024. AAP / www.photosport.nz
Playing in hot temperatures is not new and in 2017 then Wellington Phoenix captain Andrew Durante questioned the league organisers after the Phoenix had played in 39C.
The A-League has a current heat policy that allows for cooling breaks, better known as drinks breaks, that can last up to three minutes and allow players to leave the field of play to seek shade during the break, take on fluid and other heat management strategies in order to mitigate exposure to heat like wet towels or ice vests.
Breaks are implemented if the ambient temperature is measured at 31C or higher and/or when the Wet Bulb Globe temperature is measured at 26C or higher prior to kick-off, according to the APL who run the A-League.
The number and length of cooling breaks is decided by the match commissioner with team doctors and match officials before the start of the game.
The APL said the heat policy was recognised “as a conservative policy by international standards”.
A ‘Summer Period’ from early December to the end of March is recognised by the league with no kick-offs until 5pm to avoid teams playing through the hottest part of the day in the cities prone to extreme heat across these months.
This season after an off-season analysis on weather patterns across Australia and New Zealand, the ‘Summer Period’ is slightly shorter in Newcastle and Victoria running from Round 7 to 18, where temperatures historically do not exhibit extreme temperatures for as long, the APL said pre-season.
Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix and home games do not fall into this ‘Summer Period’ due to the cooler climate.
“Last season we were quite lucky I don’t know if we had any [cooling] breaks, there were some difficult games regardless Brisbane away was really tough, Western Sydney away was really tough they were close to 30 degrees so I have an idea of what to expect. It’s difficult for us but it’s difficult for the opposition as well,” Pijnaker said.
Corica said he was happy with the A-League heat policy.
“If it’s really hot over there we might have drinks breaks which will help us a little bit more than them I think because they will be used to the heat over there and we haven’t had that kind of heat here at the moment.”
Getting captain Hiroki Sakai back
Hiroki Sakai of Auckland FC goes off with an injury. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Auckland’s club captain Hiroki Sakai has missed several matches as he recovers from a hamstring injury but will take part in Saturday’s game.
Sakai, 35, has travelled to Perth a day earlier than the rest of the squad to give the defender the best chance of getting on the field
Unlike his team mates Sakai had a direct flight to Western Australia.
“So far he has done two sessions fully with the team and he’s got through really well so he’s happy with where he is,” Corica said.
“We’ve got a lighter session in Perth on Friday providing he gets through that I’ll have a conversation with him and then we’ll make some decisions from there. I thought Jake Girdwood-Reich was excellent last week as well so if [Sakai] was to come in it would be a bit tough on him but these are the decisions I have to make.
“[Sakai] is an older player, experienced player and knows his body pretty well so we’ve given him that extra day to travel straight after training [on Wednesday].”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
