Although football remains the top priority, the Crows are planning to have some social time in Dubai.

Adelaide’s nine-day overseas trip revolves around daily training and recovery sessions to prepare for the NAB Cup opener against Collingwood on Saturday, February 9.

But the travelling party will also have opportunities to experience Dubai with a range of organised functions - including a desert safari and Dubai Creek night cruise -and some free time.

“We are going there to prepare for a game of football we really want to win, so that’s definitely the focus,” football operations general manager John Reid said. “But we have tried to provide some balance to the program while we are away so that the players train hard and then can see and enjoy a bit of Dubai.

“Many of our younger players have not travelled overseas before, so it will be a memorable trip for them. And it should also be a positive experience for the group as a whole. The players get the chance to go somewhere different to train and play together. They will learn from having to deal with these changes and all the other challenges we will face being away from home.”

The Crows depart Adelaide on Sunday, February 3, bound for Kuala Lumpur, where they will spend a day before continuing to Dubai early on Tuesday morning.

The trip’s main football session will be on Wednesday from about 10.30am at the Police Academy. There will be a recovery session the next day at the same venue and on Friday the squad will have a run at the match venue (Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club) from about 10am.

Players not involved in the game will train on Saturday morning before running an Auskick session at 10.30am. There will be a curtain raiser between local clubs Dubai Dingoes and Dubai Heat and the NAB Cup game against Collingwood starts at 1.45pm (Dubai time).

Ghantoot is about 40 minutes drive from Dubai and about halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The person in charge of converting the polo field is Tony Hemming - a former curator at Telstra Dome, Optus Oval and Aurora Stadium - and the AFL predicts a crowd of between 5000-7000 to attend the opening game of the 2008 NAB Cup competition.

Adelaide leaves Dubai on Sunday night and arrives back in Adelaide early on Tuesday morning after a stopover in KL.

And afc.com.au will be there all the way to keep Crows fans informed with news, features, photos, a player’s diary and video updates.