NFL eyes bigger Australian footprint | 01:56
The Los Angeles Rams have officially landed in Melbourne ahead of their blockbuster clash against the San Francisco 49ers at the MCG.
Their unique approach to getting here has raised eyebrows around the sporting world, but will it prove to be the right plan when the two teams face off?
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The Rams have concluded their 14-hour and 52-minute flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, travelling 12,748 kilometres.
The team will now have roughly 28 hours to rest, recover, settle into their hotel rooms, wake up and then play the game, before getting back on the plane to head home.
Their strategy included renting out a Qantas Airbus A380, reportedly the largest and most expensive commercial passenger airliner ever built, according to Joe Pompliano.
The plane had enough lie-flat seats on board for every player and some coaches, with Rams linebacker Byron Young showing off the luxury setup in a video posted to social media with the caption: “feel very boujeeee”.
The A380 also has a cabin altitude of around 5,000 feet compared to roughly 8,000 feet on many passenger aircraft, while higher humidity levels and a quieter cabin are designed to improve comfort and rest during long-haul flights.
The Rams have now completed the opening steps of their travel plan, which included practising in LA on Tuesday morning before departing for Australia that night.
Following the near 15-hour journey, the Rams touched down in Melbourne on Thursday morning.
The Rams are electing to stay on West Coast time whilst in Australia and landed in Melbourne at 7am local time, with the plan to sleep in the early afternoon and wake up in the middle of the night.
Kick-off is at 10:35am on Friday in Melbourne and, at the conclusion of the game, the Rams will head straight back to LA and embark on another 15-hour flight.
According to the*Los Angeles Times,* the Rams sent players to Australia during the offseason, with the group describing themselves as “guinea pigs” as the franchise prepared for this trip.
“They kind of used us as guinea pigs,” offensive lineman Kevin Dotson told the Times.
Rams & 49ers different travel plans | 02:15
Dotson travelled to Australia with teammates Kyren Williams, Tyler Davis and Xavier Smith, with their physical and mental experiences throughout the flight taken into consideration by the team.
Their mental and physical reactions were also monitored when they returned home from the trip.
Tyler Davis told the LA Times he slept “eight to 10 hours” during the flight to Australia in the offseason.
“So, once we landed, I was able to rock and roll,” he said, describing his positive experience on the flight.
“You feel like you’re at home going to sleep,” Davis said.
The extraordinary travel plan has unsurprisingly sparked plenty of reaction across the NFL world.
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Rob Gronkowski weighed in on the contrasting travel plans from both teams and warned that the worst may still be to come for the Rams.
“I think both of them have it right,” Gronkowski said on Up & Adams.
Gronkowski went on to add that if the teams had opted for an ‘in-between’ time zone, that’s where problems could arise as their bodies attempted to adjust.
But Gronkowski warned that when the Rams return from Australia after the gruelling travel, the demands may finally catch up with them.
“The Rams are going to be absolutely jet lagged when they get back from Australia though,” Gronkowski said.
“That’s when they’re really going to be hurting.”
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Andrew Brown is an Australian who now lives in Southern California, working in horse racing media, and believes the Rams are doing it right.
“Unpopular opinion, but as an Aussie living in Southern California who has done LAX-Australia dozens of times... the @RamsNFL’s strategy of arriving the day before their game is spot on,” Brown posted on X.
“They rest/sleep on the 15-hour flight on Tuesday night in a very comfortable lie-flat bed on a Qantas A380.
“Give me the Rams strategy every time.”
In total, the Rams will spend more than 30 hours in the air and travel at least 25,496 kilometres, and they’ll do it all without Wi-Fi, with internet reportedly one of the few luxuries their A380 doesn’t provide.