Last updated 16:51, June 19 2018
PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak began adjusting to the Denver time zone as soon as he finished last Friday's game for the Panthers.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak began adjusting to the Denver time zone as soon as he finished last Friday's game for the Panthers.
The man tasked with ensuring the welfare of the Kiwis squad has played down the altitude factor after they touched down in Denver.
Denver's altitude, which at 1600m above sea level makes it the highest major city in the United States, was cited as one of the major concerns, along with the travel and turnaround time, by NRL clubs opposed to Sunday's (NZ time) clash against England.
Kiwis team doctor Greg Macleod and the high performance staff have spent months assessing the potential welfare risks, consulting with other codes and applying some "lateral thinking" to ensure players are in the best physical condition before, during and after Sunday's (NZ time) test.
Kiwis team doctor Greg Macleod has previously worked with the Highlanders in Super Rugby.
Having worked with the Highlanders for four seasons, Macleod has drawn heavily on his experience in Super Rugby where teams regularly play at high altitude in South Africa.
READ MORE:
And he insisted it was one of their least concerns.
"Johannesburg is well over 2,000 metres. We're half a kilometre lower than that and we play there all the time," Macleod said. "Training and living at this sort of altitude is the way you can adapt.
"So we're not terribly stressed about the altitude, it's probably more of a psychological factor than anything. Once we get a few training sessions under our belt and we get a sense of what that feels like we'll get on with the job."
The squad departed Sydney on Monday morning and went straight into a recovery session after completing the near 24-hour journey to their Denver hotel.
There were a number of measures implemented to minimise the affects of jet-leg, including using 'humidi-flyer' face masks to prevent dehydration and blue-light therapy, which is said to help overcome sleep and mood disorders.
Each player was on individualised travel plans, which in outside back Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's case he had been following since walking off the field for the Panthers last Friday.
"If we had of trained today I would've been sweet. I'm a little tired but that's the usual thing when you're travelling," Watene-Zelezniak said.
"The doc gave us times we needed to sleep, the food we needed to eat, the water we needed to drink.
"All the boxes have been ticked and it was actually pretty cool to learn more on how to prepare for games if we have to travel like this again. I feel that we've been treated like kings."
With just three training sessions to prepare, Macleod's main focus was now on recovery so the players could put in some quality work and adjust to the local conditions. The temperature at kick-off is forecast for 26C.
Macleod stressed it was all part of a well-detailed medical plan and that NRL clubs would be constantly kept in the loop.
"This process doesn't stop now that we're here," Macleod said.
"Throughout the week we'll be communicating with the clubs, and when [the players] leave too.
"Everyone is going to have a plan... so when they turn up [to their clubs] no one should be able to say 'we didn't know about that'."