North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says he’s confident his players can handle the forecast hot, humid conditions in Townsville on Saturday afternoon.
The AFL’s Heat Policy has been a topic of hot debate in recent days, with the Suns’ Gary Ablett expressing concern for players’ welfare in extreme conditions, but Scott believes the rules in place are fair.
“I have no issues with it,” Scott told NMFC.com.au.
“We had more arduous conditions Round 1 over in Perth two years ago, we had more arduous conditions in our first final last year which we didn’t handle well at all.
“We knew it was going to be hot. We’ve had the hottest summer on record in Melbourne.”
The much-debated policy allows for shortened quarters and extended quarter and three quarter-time breaks when the temperature hits 32 degrees celsius.
If the mercury reaches 35, the 20-rotation cap on interchange is scrapped and benches increased from three to six.
Temperatures of around 33 degrees, and a humidity level of 80% are predicted for the first bounce.
“It’s very predictable the weather up here. There’s a gap of about six degrees between the minimum temperate and the high of the day. The humidity stays pretty constant,” Scott added.
“We accept that it’s going to be arduous, but we’re not campaigning either way. We’ll play under the conditions that the AFL deem appropriate.”
Scott says the conditions will be a great test of his players’ resilience.
“From my perspective we want to be able to play in any conditions, at any venue, against any opposition and this is just another one of those opportunities.
“We’ve trained in it. We haven’t compromised our program because of the heat.
“While it’s going to be arduous for our players, we don’t know what it’s going to be like Round 1, 2 and 3 either, and I know we won’t be allowed six on the bench then.”
The Suns upset reigning Grand Finalist Hawthorn in the first round of the NAB Cup, and Scott is expecting another strong performance tonight.
“Intensity always goes up when you play a full length game against genuine opposition.
“The way the Gold Coast played last week, they’ll be genuine opposition. Time will tell, but we’ve prepared as best we can.”
