49ers coach Kyle Shanahan shows hype for Australia game despite time issues

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-francisco-49ers/jBnfYoFr/"]49ers[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-rams/z7hZioyR/"]Rams[/a] will play the first NFL regular-season game in Australia on Friday at ‌the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of a record nine-game schedule of international matches.[/p][p]The 49ers arrived a week before ‌kick-off to acclimatise, but the time zone difference was still proving a challenge for Shanahan ‌in his first press conference in Australia on Monday.[/p][embed guid="0c70213e-78ae-4815-b4db-984c563dc038" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ55HTguK9A&pp=ygUPNDllcnMgYXVzdHJhbGlh0gcJCRsMAYcqIYzv" social-type="youtube" /][p][b]"We're a little confused with when I look at my ‌clock and it says the time, and then I try to see my family's time, ‌and it says the time, but it says yesterday,"[/b] Shanahan said at the team's training base at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.[/p][p][b]"I don't get how that's possible. So I feel like I'm in the future.[/b][/p][p][b]"Then also when we play on our Friday, ‌which I think is a Thursday in the U.S., we're ⁠such creatures of habit.[/b][/p][p][b]"So I call today Tuesday. No, ‌wait, sorry, I call today Wednesday, which is the first day we put in the game plan,"[/b] he ​added.[/p][p][b]"But I think it's Monday. However, though it's Sunday in the present, so like I'm going to mess that up all week if you guys ask me."[/b][/p][p]The 49ers saw ​their 2025 season end with a stinging 41-6 loss to the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/seattle-seahawks/f5h1oOee/"]Seattle Seahawks[/a] in the divisional playoff.[/p][p]Shanahan said it was initially hard to adjust to the idea of a season-opener in Australia, but ⁠the team were now excited after ​being on the ground.[/p][p][b]"We love being the only game on, as opposed to being on a Sunday where there's a lot of games playing, and it's really cool to be out here. And I think our guys are pretty jacked now,"[/b] he said.[/p][embed guid="cbdce672-2acf-49a2-a785-87801e756ad8" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mEUKbfTHhY&pp=ygUNS3lsZSBTaGFuYWhhbg%3D%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p]The 49ers have trained in the Australian morning as ‌part of their preparations for the 10:35 a.m. (0035 GMT) kick-off on Friday and gave their players a detailed file on how to acclimatise after consulting multiple experts on sleep and nutrition.[/p][p]The Rams, who are nominally the home team, are doing things differently.[/p][p]They will not arrive until the day before the game and are sticking to sleep and training routines as if preparing for a regular game at 5:35 p.m. in California.[/p][p]The 49ers running back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mccaffrey-christian/UwUYi0lS/"]Christian McCaffrey[/a] shrugged off the strangeness of a morning kickoff and praised staff for the level of detail in preparing the players.[/p][p][b]"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," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"So any questions you think you would have had, ​they answered it in these packets."[/b][/p][embed guid="26f34d14-3f86-4d60-8718-f198ae2b21ab" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25wTXYn30Zo&pp=ygUTQ2hyaXN0aWFuIE1jQ2FmZnJleQ%3D%3D" social-type="youtube" /][p]A number of 49ers players had a taste of what ‌a big MCG crowd is like when they were among 96,680 spectators who watched the Australian Football League playoff between the Geelong Cats and Carlton Blues on Friday.[/p][p]McCaffrey said there were some things the players could not prepare for, though, at a stadium with a sprawling, oval-shaped surface.[/p][p][b]"I'll probably know better after the game,"[/b] he said.[/p][p][b]"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.[/b][/p][p][b]"That's all stuff that you'll adjust to during the game."[/b][/p][embed guid="f41b9e61-bca1-47e7-bd9c-74d1bc9fdb84" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6zzXbitkM0&pp=ygUPNDllcnMgYXVzdHJhbGlh" social-type="youtube" /][infobox id="20b251ad-200b-415c-a27c-559697b10377" /]