Warriors v Dolphins: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s message of encouragement for the Warriors

“You’ve got to start somewhere. So, I don’t think you should buy into other people’s opinions or criticisms. People are always going to have an opinion, but I think if you believe in yourself and you trust in your work ethic and the preparation that you put in, you can go win. You can go do it all. So, yeah, good luck.”

Purdy and his teammates have been in Melbourne for the past few days, arriving early to acclimatise before the opening-round NFL clash with the Rams – a long-standing divisional rivalry game.

It’s an occasion American football fans from Australia, New Zealand and further afield have rolled up in numbers for, and it’s a match-up that holds plenty of weight in the league.

The 49ers come into the season set to have all their stars available to play. Defensive co-ordinator Raheem Morris said on Tuesday defensive end Nick Bosa would play in the contest, while offensive co-ordinator Klay Kubiak said tight end George Kittle was looking good – and during the section of training media were invited to attend, Kittle was out running routes and catching passes.

The team have also recruited well this off-season, such as adding veteran wide receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel to the offence, and bringing linebacker Dre Greenlaw back on the defensive side.

On the other side, the Rams are led by reigning MVP and quarterback Matthew Stafford, with the two-headed beast in their receiving corps of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

They, too, have recruited in the off-season and have the potential to roll out arguably the most intimidating duo in the league with Aaron Donald, returning after announcing his retirement after the 2023 season though ruled out of the round one clash in Melbourne, and Myles Garrett, the reigning defensive player of the year.

Both teams have genuine Super Bowl hopes, but Morris said his side weren’t getting too far ahead of themselves yet.

“It’s way too soon to talk about those things. I know that’s a lot of fun for people out there, but for us it’s just one day at a time and it really is about us,” Morris said.

“It’s going out there being able to accomplish the things that we need to get done and to be the best version of ourselves. The season, as we know, is a long season. You’ve got to continue to grow every single week and the ideal plan is to get better and better every single week.”

The writer travelled courtesy of Visit Victoria.

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