The Los Angeles Rams are due to arrive in Melbourne on Thursday, September 10, less than 24 hours before their historic NFL meeting with the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The unusual travel plan is the latest twist in a contest that has become as much about body clocks as it is about the opening game of the NFL season. The Rams have chosen to remain in California until the eve of the match, while the 49ers travelled to Australia almost a week early to acclimatise.
The game, which kicks off at 10.35am local time on Friday, September 11, will be the NFL’s first regular-season fixture in Australia. It will also be the longest city-to-city journey undertaken for a regular-season game in league history, with the Rams travelling about 7,937 miles from Los Angeles to Melbourne.
Rams head coach Sean McVay believes the late arrival will allow his players to stay closer to their normal California routine and avoid spending several days adjusting to the 17-hour time difference before returning home.
San Francisco, by contrast, arrived in Melbourne last Friday and has spent the intervening days adapting to local time while taking part in community events and building a visible presence among Australian supporters.
Neither team believes the contrasting preparations offer a simple verdict on the best way to manage the 16-hour flight and the demands of an international game.
“I’m sure it will be a good case study for anybody else in the future to sit there and overthink which one helped or not, but the real thing that’s going to win this game is who plays better football,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Shanahan added that too many variables were involved, including the size of the squads and the length of the game, to claim one approach had delivered a decisive advantage.
“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said Rams defensive end Myles Garrett, who is set to make his Los Angeles debut. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing.”
Garrett will be joined in the Rams’ revamped defence by fellow new arrivals Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson. Aaron Donald, however, will remain in the United States as he continues a carefully managed return from retirement.
The fixture is also the latest chapter in the long-running rivalry between McVay and Shanahan, whose teams have faced each other repeatedly over the past decade. Both coaching staffs are familiar with the personnel and tactics on the opposite side, leaving the Melbourne conditions and the players’ ability to perform under an unfamiliar schedule as the main unanswered questions.
