World Footy News

Anyone who watched the Port Adelaide Power team in 2014 was left admiring their impressive ability to run out games. The Power were never dead in the water in any game, as their renowned ability to surge home left their rivals grasping at thin air.

Ask anyone why the club has improved so dramatically in just two years and two factors keep recurring: fitness coach Darren Burgess and their fitness camps to Dubai.

According to the Port Adelaide website “consolidation of the Power’s already strong fitness platform will be the focus of Darren Burgess and his high performance team this summer.

Port Adelaide will begin its preparations for season 2015 in earnest on Monday 17 November, when its 1-4 year playing group hits the track for a three-kilometre time trial. Among that group will be members of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 draft classes.
They will then be joined by their elder teammates in the first week of December as the club finalises its Adelaide preparations ahead of its second training camp in Dubai.

The Power’s fitness program has earned a reputation as a benchmark of the competition. In 2013, the Power surprised the football world with its ability come-from-behind and seize upset wins over some of the AFL’s best sides.

This year, it took its athleticism to a new, more punishing level, with its trademark late surges replaced by brutal out-of-the-blocks performances in the early season.

Its 2014 Burgess-led fitness program combined with the exciting Hinkley game-plan to propel Port Adelaide into a preliminary final against eventual premiers Hawthorn”

Burgess himself believes that the conditions in Dubai are ideal for the type of preparation needed for an elite AFL team. He states that the hot and humid conditions help stimulate the brain to send messages that will make the body work through fatigue. Difficult to argue with that logic considering how fit Power players appeared at the end of most matches last year.

The trip to Dubai commences after the senior squad returns from their break and starts on the 5th December for ten days. According to the Power website “Once the whole group re-forms, including new draftees through the national, pre-season and rookie drafts, the football department will fly to Dubai to commence an extensive (and intensive) training camp in the emirate.

After last year’s successful camp in the Middle East, the Power will use the Dubai mini-campaign to achieve several essential objectives.

Primarily, it will serve as an opportunity to test and hone the player’s fitness and durability in an inhospitable and unfamiliar environment. Adelaide summers are classically hot and dry, whereas Dubai is humid.

While both cities have similar average temperatures, the quality of facility available to the Power on the training camp is a significant advantage. The humidity will also force the players’ bodies to work harder in the warmer conditions.

With a change in base for the Dubai trip, Burgess expects the playing group to rise to the occasion upon arrival at what he describes as the single best facility he’s encountered during his professional career in the AFL and international soccer.

“The boys will enjoy the change, it’s probably the best facility I’ve seen in the world and we’re really excited to take them over,” he says.

“Once they get over there this group really enjoys the work.”

The Dubai program, like the normal pre-season plan, will evolve again.


The likes of former Essendon ruckman Patrick Ryder and new midfield manager Michael Voss will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with their new colleagues and teammates.

In essence, Dubai provides a comprehensive opportunity for the Port Adelaide football department to begin its new campaign in a fresh, neutral environment.

Burgess says it’s a proven method that will help the Power maintain pace with the opposition after starting three weeks behind last year’s bottom 10 teams.

“The facilities are unlike anything that I’ve experienced and it serves as an opportunity to get out of Adelaide, integrate the new players and draft picks, integrate Michael Voss into the coaching program," he says.

The camp will also provide a great opportunity for clubs across the region, but particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, to interact with the club. Last year the club worked with local kids to run Auskick clinics as well as other appointments as the club helped to raise the awareness of Australian Rules football to people across the Middle East.

Considering Port Adelaide’s rapid rise to power over the past two seasons it might just happen that clubs give the high-altitude camps a miss and instead try to emulate Port’s success in the United Arab Emirates.

It might be wise to check room availability now!




Left: Dubai Sports Centre