ELITE performance manager Dave Misson says Melbourne’s upcoming nine-day pre-season camp to the Northern Territory will be one of the most challenging he has overseen in almost 20 years of top level sport.

Misson, who has worked with the likes of the Australian cricket, rugby union and tennis teams, plus rival AFL clubs Sydney Swans and St Kilda, said the heat and humidity would make it demanding.

“It’ll definitely be really challenging,” he said.

“When I was at the Saints, we used to do some camps on the Gold Coast. That was significant in the heat, but this will go to another level and we’ll step up again.

“We’ll be living a reasonably sparse existence in the army barracks and it’ll be a bit of a challenge, but one of the real benefits will be getting away together and hopefully it’ll be a group that hurts togetherand becomes a bit closer. I’m looking forward to seeing players under pressure and how they’ll cope with it.”

From an elite preparation perspective, Misson was pleased with the facilities on offer in the Top End.

“First and foremost, any camp we undertake is about being able to transform our program from here to whatever venue we decide. We only consider a venue for a camp if we feel we get similar to what we’d get if we were staying here in Melbourne,” he said.

“We feel that the ground at Palmerston is a really good ground. It’s got good drainage and a lot of money has been spent on the surface.

“The facilities at Robertson Barracks – we had a look up there, when we played in Darwin during the year – and we’re really comfortable with the facilities there and what they can provide us. We feel we can essentially transport our program up to Darwin and not really lose anything from a facility point of view.”

Misson said that heat and humidity training aligned with the club’s pre-season philosophy.

“And that’s really to challenge the players and to take them to places and new levels – physically – they haven’t been before,” he said.

“We feel that the heat and humidity – apart from the research from physiological benefits – will also be a mental toughness exercise for them.

“They’ll be in an environment that will stress them for nine days.”

Misson said simply “being in that environment” will be the most challenging.

“If we had a really hot day in Melbourne, we’d train early in the morning and then get into some comfort for the rest of the day. We’d be in the gym in air conditioning,” he said.

“But to be able to live it 24 hours a day for nine days and to be sleep deprived because it will be really hot, will be a challenge.

“We’ll be focusing on hydration and the body will be stressed for nine days, so it’s going to be really taxing and test the resilience.”

Despite training in extreme temperatures, Misson said the players’ welfare would be not be compromised.

“The heat we’re going to get up there – we’re really going to have to watch the health of the players,” he said.

“Heat stress is something we’re going to have to keep monitoring - it’ll be a good exercise in self-management and our players are aware of how their bodies are going.

“We’re asking them to really push themselves and they need to present and prepare themselves every second day with our footy stuff.”

Overall, Misson said he was most looking forward to seeing the players test their resolve.

“You put people in different environments and you see what they’re like. It puts them under pressure and it gives a little bit of an insight into how potentially how they’re going to be when they’ll be challenged and tested on the field,” he said.

“I’m really comfortable with where we’re at, at the moment. The players have done the right thing in the off season and they’ve presented themselves really well.

“We’ve had a really good first four weeks of pre-season, but this is another really good test again. We’re stepping it up again for nine days and we’re looking forward to it.”