I am following a few of our players on twitter and noticed that they all seem to struggle sleeping after a night game, which is probably not a good thing recovery wise. They tweet at 3 AM how they can't sleep.

Why doesn't the club doctors just give them some mild sleeping pills for those night game nights? No sleep after the game can't be good for recovery. Anyone know? Sleeping pills on the banned list?

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TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

Is that you, Ben Cousins??!!

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"...that's the thing about opinion - you don't have to know anything to have one..." Andre Agassi commenting on Pat Cash 2004
"...the less you know - the more you believe..." - Bono 2006

I would assume it would be the same for most teams

Maybe you should be asking why they can't sleep after playing at night, and why AFL players are hyper-stimulated for hours after a game.

Some of them are, and most of them would just make recovery worse.

The blokes have stressed their systems for about 4 hours, and probably have been quite tense in the 2 hours prior to that. Then there's the food pre-game and post-game. They'd get out of the ground just before midnight at the earliest and home at about 12:30 - 1, so all in all 3 AM isn't exactly a surprise.

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And only 7 that you like;
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Or 20 ways to start a fight.

whenever i play a gig on stage or a late indoor cricket game , cant sleep for ages, the adrenaline keeps you awake, your body may be exhausted ,but the brain is racing. ( And thats without drugs !!! ) Imagine the players at 100 times the work rate.

Was a massive suprise to some on this site after that game against freo on the goldie a few years back.
I tried to explain this back then but apparently it was all Sticks' fault they were up.

Ian Chappel once remarked a few beers are the best sleeping agent going around.

6 green sleeping pills.

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"You are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it." - Finch

Do they still slam the no-doz etc pre-game?

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Yes they do ^^

Back when I was a cook after a super huge night I'd get home at 11:30 ish and it was rare for me to be asleep before 2.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

Well, I guess caffeine's better than speed.

Still... you shouldn't need so much of it that it leaves you wired. Alertness shouldn't be a problem on the field (if anything, you don't want to be too wired) but moderate doses of caffeine (we'd be talking about 200-300mg for an 85kg guy) which is not much more than a couple of strong coffees or 3 no-doz, is often cited in studies to improve performance in endurance activities.

If they're taking any more than that, they're probably just screwing with themselves to no great effect.

I didn't sleep after the Cats game.

I felt like I played in it & I'm over @#$%&! xx years old

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

I find it hard to sleep after a night game. And that's just from sitting on the couch watching it!

This is a good point. I play indoor soccer each week, these games are 36 minutes long, I'll usually play 30 of that. If we have a late game, starting at 9.10 or afterwards (the latest fixtured slot is 10.20), I'll be wide awake for a fair while. Especially once you get home, shower, have something to eat etc.

Now factor in the exertion of an AFL player (so far and away more intense than what I would experience during my game its a joke) over a game (for just under 4 times as long as me) and its no wonder they're a bit wired.

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Carlton 2012: Lets remind them why they once feared the Dark.

I agree, I'm always wired after a night game especially if it's been a close one.

Yup.........

i left home at 2pm today.........set up show......
play......lose 1-2 kilos in sweat........pull down show........
drive home......walked back in the door at 2.15am........!

eating a bowl of Oat Brits with Lecithen......and drinking
a cup of Orange tea.....very relaxing stuff really.......!

if i get to bed before 4.30........i'm stylin.........!

it could only be worse for footballers.........!


kindest regards tommi

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

yeh like robbo never went to bed lol. some of the banter is amusing, like mclean had no food in cuboard and said he cant be stuffed going to get some and he had no cash cos the afl took it so simpson sent him a pic of some fruitloops

The problem is that beers = calories and even a mild hangover can affect performance

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Between the two my life flows

Bugger!