Carlton could benefit from a “huge advantage” regarding their pre-game travel time ahead of Sunday's game against Port Adelaide, according to Dwayne Russell.
The eighth-placed Blues and top of the ladder Power go head-to-head at the Gabba with both clubs coming off excellent Round 6 wins.
With Carlton already based in Queensland and Port Adelaide having to fly in and fly out, Russell believes this could give David Teague’s side the edge.
“The reason I think that Carlton can beat the top of the ladder Port Adelaide is because they’ve got one of the biggest advantages over any team in this hub situation,” Russell told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“Carlton’s already in Queensland, the game is at the Gabba. They’ve only got a Gold Coast to the Gabba bus trip, a 50-minute bus trip.
“1:05 in the afternoon is the game time so they’ll wake as normal Carlton, have breakfast, get on the bus at 9:30 and get to the Gabba at 10:30.
“Port Adelaide’s players have got a fly in, fly out game again this weekend, they had one last week against the Giants but the Giants also had to fly in and fly out of Queensland. So it was a fairly even contest.
“Port Adelaide has to fly into Queensland - so Port Adelaide’s player’s alarms are going off at 4:30 in the morning, they have to be at the club at 5:20, the bus leaves at 5:30 for the airport, they’ve got a 6:30 flight, it’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight, they go straight to the Gabba when they get to Queensland … arrive at the Gabba at 10:15 and the game starts at 1:05.
“It’s got to be a huge advantage for Carlton having Port Adelaide facing that long trip.”