Brown backs night final
17 September 2005
Herald Sun
Nathan Brown
I'M AN unashamed fan of night football. To stick my neck out I'll say I think a night Grand Final would be an amazing showpiece for our great game.
The night preliminary final last season between Port Adelaide and St Kilda was a perfect example of why night football is so good.
The atmosphere was electric, the skills were brilliant and the game went down to the wire for a thrilling finish.
If you look at all the major sports around the world such as NFL, baseball, European soccer and one-day cricket, the showpiece game is always played at night, under lights.
The corporate dollar has a huge influence on this, with bigger audiences attracted to the prime-time TV ratings and bigger crowds attracted to the venues.
On top of all this, I believe people, including myself, are attracted to night time football because of the added atmosphere.
There's something about sport (in particular AFL) at night when the fog rolls in and sits just above the stands with the lights shining on the green field below that the day game just can't produce.
Maybe it's because the air is thinner at night, but the crowd always seems louder and right on top of you.
As a spectator in my younger days I always preferred watching the game at night.
As a player, I still do.
I love the atmosphere and the excitement of playing after dark but it also means a few adjustments must be made to the way we go about the game in terms of preparation, the tools of the trade and a few tactics to keep in the back of the mind.
When preparing for a night game it's a very long day and you have to have a plan about how to get through the day without playing the game too much in your head.
You have to think about how many times you will eat. I normally have breakfast then a massive pasta lunch about 1pm.
Some players have a sleep in the afternoon and, like clockwork, I am in the sack at 2pm and waking at 3.30pm ready to get to the ground by 5pm.
All these things aren't a factor in day football – you get up, you eat and you're off to the game.
Tactically, there is not a lot of difference to the game.
Yes, the ball is a tad slippery from the dew so you'll see more players wearing gloves at night, but we're professional footballers and play in all sorts of conditions so a little dew shouldn't make any difference.
One thing people may not know is that the ball travels further at night due to the thin air and goals from outside 50m are on the cards.
As a forward, I can tell you that the crumbs may come to the back two or three times a game more than in the day.
Sometimes the lighting can be a factor.
You see a player drop the easiest of marks and give him a spray, but once the ball gets in a direct path of the lights, it's gone.
But I'd like to think over the years I've done my best work after dark, and I just love playing under lights.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,16625881%255E19742,00.html
