With the exception of the Dogs' 2005 fixture with Carlton, the club has always opted to travel the day before – holding their main training session in Melbourne.
This time, the players will fly north on Thursday morning and will train at TIO Stadium that evening, giving them almost two full days to adjust to Darwin's warmth – forecast at 31 degrees for the next three days.
"We've had plenty of discussions about flight times and we changed our mind a couple of times," Eade told westernbulldogs.com.au.
"Last year, we went up a bit later, on the Friday, but we think Thursday is a better day to get up there and train that night, rather than train Thursday here.
"We just thought it might be better to have the main session up there rather than have it down here in Melbourne, to just get used to it a bit."
The Bulldogs have travelled to Darwin for one regular season match a year since 2004, with this encounter with Port Adelaide the third time the trip has come in the middle of the season.
Eade said the change of scenery, followed by a week's rest, provides his players with a refreshed mentality when entering the second half of the season.
"It's an interesting way of looking at it. I think the warm weather will be good for them as well, as they also know there's a weekend off after it," he said.
"There's half-a-dozen of them going straight from Darwin to their home states, so they get a break.
"I think it's a reasonable point. Most teams will be looking for a weekend [after] this week, and it's come at a good time."
Eade said his players are set to benefit from their weekend off, and reaffirmed his stance on the League introducing a pair of mid-season breaks.
"The AFL with their wisdom in the future will probably have two bye weekends, and I think that's great," he said.
"It would break the season right up and it wouldn't become such a drudge and a chore.
"The players are looking forward to having their week off."
The Bulldogs face the Power a week after their coach Mark Williams claimed his side would miss the finals after losing to Richmond at AAMI Stadium.
Regardless, Eade expects the opposition to enter the match with confidence given their record at the Darwin venue.
"Sometimes when you publicly say the season's over, it can go one or two ways," he said.
"Players can accept that fate, or they can think the pressure's off and go out and play inspired footy.
"That's what we've got to be wary of. We certainly won't be taking Port any lighter because they believe they can't make the finals, because they've still got a talented group.
"We've played Port in Darwin twice and they've beaten us twice, so they'll have some confidence with that, but having said that, it's like a second home ground to us.
"We've played reasonably well there, and we've only had the one bad performance up there in my time at the club.
"I think we can head into the game with a bit of confidence."
