BOTH Richmond and Essendon have been physically preparing for Saturday's Dreamtime game in Darwin for at least a month.

With the temperature forecasted to be 32C and 64 per cent humidity at 6.30pm (with a "feels like" of 36C), it's a far cry from Melbourne's top of 21 degrees.

The AFL has brought in a heat policy for the game, bumping up the allowed number of water carriers from five to seven.

The quarter and three-quarter time breaks will be increased by two minutes each, while an additional four minutes has been added to half-time, which will now sit at 18 minutes.

There’s a “fridge room” directly behind each bench where players can cool off, while the Tigers were handing round Gatorade slushies at their training session in the heat of the day.

After a lightning storm severely impacted Essendon's captain's run, there'll also be a close watch on the radar, Richmond having already played in a lightning-affected game in Melbourne earlier this year.

Richmond ruck Poppy Kelly said the club was leaning heavily on the experience of high-performance manager Eliza Morrison, who has spent considerable time playing in the NTFL competition herself.

"Our S&C, Eliza, she's played up here and has done a lot of research, so we've been in the steam room a couple of times a week for the past month or so," Kelly said.

"We've also done a few heat bikes a week, and have been staying super hydrated.

"We have a heat chamber, so have been doing bike sessions in there."