The Western Bulldogs are going to new lengths to prepare for their game against Gold Coast in Darwin on Saturday night.
With the weather set to peak at 32 degrees on Saturday, the Bulldogs are playing in some seriously foreign conditions for late May.
Given the weather will be so different to what they’re used to, AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich says the Bulldogs have been spending some extra time in the sauna across the last fortnight.
“This is an interesting one because they're heading to the Northern Territory,” Gabelich told SEN Sportsday.
“They've just landed in Darwin as we speak (on Thursday) but they’ve been preparing for this for the past fortnight.
“This is in terms of their heat training because they're in a sauna (playing in Darwin).
“They have been training in a sauna on the bikes (at Whitten Oval), they’ve done four sessions on either side of Ballarat.”
On top of training in saunas, Gabelich says the Dogs are also preparing in some unique ways like putting detergent on footballs to mimic slippery conditions and drinking only room temperature water – something they’d been doing for two weeks.
“The last time they played was single-digit degrees (against Adelaide in Ballarat) but they're going to play in 31 degrees on Saturday and in humidity.
“They’re doing a few other things like the old school detergent on the footy … they did that out at Skinner Reserve yesterday.
“But the other one I found quite fascinating is that they've been drinking room temperature water for the past fortnight.
“Now, there is some scientific background to this.
“No ice, no chilled water, they’re getting prepared that way.
“These are just the little incremental gains that the Western Bulldogs are going through this weekend.”
The clash for Saturday’s clash at Darwin’s TIO Stadium begins at 7.25pm (AEST).