San Francisco 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Admits Time Zone Confusion in Australia

The 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams are set to play the first NFL regular-season game in Australia on Friday at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground. The contest forms part of a record nine-game schedule of international matches for the league.

Time Zone Confusion at the Melbourne Training Base

Arriving a week before kick-off to acclimatize, the 49ers established their training base at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. However, the stark time zone difference quickly disrupted normal routines for the coaching staff.

Shanahan noted that game-planning habits were thrown off by the shift. When we play on our Friday, which I think is a Thursday in the U.S., we’re such creatures of habit, he said, adding that tracking the correct day of the week proved genuinely difficult during his opening press conference on Monday.

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Contrasting Preparation Strategies for 49ers and Rams

To combat the time change, the 49ers consulted sleep and nutrition experts, providing players with detailed files and morning training schedules ahead of the 10:35 a.m. (0035 GMT) Friday kick-off.

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey praised the organization’s thoroughness in managing the transition. There were big packets on the plane, different supplements to take at different hours, different sleep suggestions, when to stay up during the day, when to go to bed, McCaffrey said, noting that every potential question was addressed.

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In contrast, the Rams are taking a different approach. Nominally the home team for the fixture, the Rams will not arrive until the day before the game, opting to maintain normal sleep and training routines as if preparing for a standard 5:35 p.m. game in California.

Embracing the Melbourne Atmosphere and Novel Stadium Layouts

The 49ers are eager to return to the field following a disappointing end to their 2025 campaign, which concluded with a 41-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoff. Shanahan expressed enthusiasm about the team being the sole focus of the broadcast window.

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Several 49ers players already experienced a taste of the local sporting atmosphere. They were among 96,680 spectators who attended the Australian Football League playoff between the Geelong Cats and Carlton Blues at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

While players absorbed the scale of the venue, McCaffrey acknowledged that playing in a massive oval-shaped stadium presents unique on-field adjustments that can only be solved once the whistle blows.

It’s always weird when you go into a new stadium that’s not a football stadium … Where the game clocks are, hearing calls, hearing audibles regardless of noise. That’s all stuff that you’ll adjust to during the game.