IT WILL be business as usual for the majority of Victorian and South Australian clubs this week despite the expected four-day heatwave.
Both states will be hit by searing temperatures with Melbourne's mercury tipped to reach 41, 39, 41 and 40 between Tuesday and Friday.
The blistering heat is a chance to derail play at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, with the tournament referee able to implement the extreme heat policy at his discretion and suspend play on the outdoor courts.
It will be even hotter in Adelaide with the next four days forecast to hit 41, 43, 43 and 40.
The South Australian State Emergency Service has issued an "extreme heat warning" for the state, which started at 10am on Sunday.
It advises people to take "appropriate precautions" to ensure wellbeing during the days of blistering temperatures.
However, with the start of the NAB Challenge just over a month away, clubs are expecting to stick to their programs given their players are likely to face similar conditions when they play in February.
"We would just encourage clubs to take a common sense approach, in terms of managing the extreme heat," AFLPA general manager of player relations Ian Prendergast said on Monday.
"We'll back the sport scientists to manage players accordingly, so that they can put things in place to manage the risks that are involved in training through those conditions."
The Crows will continue to train as scheduled but will take added precautions during Wednesday's 2pm outdoor session.
Players will be given longer breaks and monitored closely, with ice vests and cold towels on hand.
Port Adelaide – who held a nine-day heat training camp in Dubai late last year – is not surprisingly undaunted by the prospect of pushing through the extreme burst of summer.
Power high performance manager Darren Burgess is an advocate of training in the high temperatures, having arranged the Dubai venture in preference to the high-altitude camps favoured by other clubs.
"We just think the heat offers a similar training environment to altitude, in that it stresses the body a lot further than what it would in normal conditions," Burgess told SEN radio last month.
"Therefore you can adapt to training physiologically better, also the mental benefits of training a lot in heat are pretty substantial.
"Physiologically, heat and altitude, it's probably reasonably similar. But my belief, and through my research, is that heat might just have the edge."
In Victoria, Collingwood will stick to its program with an outdoor session in the morning before moving inside for weights and other training.
Hawthorn typically holds skills sessions early in the morning over the pre-season and will continue to do so this week, as will Richmond.
The Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Carlton aren't predicting any changes to their programs and will continue training as planned.
St Kilda also isn't deviating from its schedule and will train at Seaford, with a potential session at Moorabbin later in the week.
Melbourne will push on with two more sessions at Casey after one on Monday but will move the start time of its hit-outs slightly forward.
The Demons will also use wet towels chilled in eskies to cool their players, having found the application to the back of the neck as the best temperature-reducing method during their games in Darwin.
The weather won't be quite as searing in Geelong with the forecast for Tuesday-Friday predicted as 41, 35, 38 and 36.
The Cats will also stick to their schedule, which included an intense almost two-hour session on Monday.
"We might just put a little bit more emphasis on our recovery, our fluid intake pre and post training, but I think we still need to do the work," defender Harry Taylor said.
"We've got a limited time for pre-season to prepare, so you can't miss too many sessions no matter what the conditions are."
The Cats kick off the NAB Challenge with a clash with the Magpies on Wednesday, February 12 at Simonds Stadium.
