MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have arrived in Australia, mostly gotten over the impact of the long flight and now are getting prepared to open their season Friday in Melbourne against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Niners left California last Wednesday, arrived in Australia on Friday and were set for their first practice of game week on Monday at AAMI Park in Melbourne feeling mostly refreshed after players got a day to explore the city. The Rams are still back home and won't arrive until Thursday.
“It took a couple days to adjust but feeling real good today,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Most of the city I’ve seen out of my window, I’ve gotten to go on one walk. It’s a little different for coaches. We’re in the season so we’re not out much. But players had yesterday off so I know they got out a little bit and they’ve spoken very highly of everything.”
Some players went to an Australian Football League game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the 49ers will face the Rams in the first NFL regular season game ever played in the country.
Star running back Christian McCaffrey didn't make it to the game but heard positive reports from his teammates. He has enjoyed his time here so far and is glad the team got to make this long trip. He said the instructions from the team's training staff made sure that the jet lag wasn't a big factor with the main issue just being cooped up on a plane for so long.
But now he's refreshed and ready to play.
“We’re fired up, man,” he said. “This has been such a cool experience. Obviously, there’s a lot of question marks when you hear you’re playing in Australia, but since we’ve been here, man, it’s been so cool. The people are unbelievable. The food’s incredible. The coffee’s great. The atmosphere, you can already feel it. It’s just been a lot fun, so we’re super fired up we’re here.”
Shanahan wasn't so excited when it was first announced that San Francisco was opening the season here instead of playing the Rams in a much shorter trip to Los Angeles in front of what is usually a partisan 49ers crowd.
But his view has changed a bit after making the trip and hearing how many 49ers supporters are expected at the game.
“That was nothing against Australia or anything, that’s just about competition and how important our 17 games are,” he said. “It’s cool for us just we always have an advantage of having one, I see it as one home game a year in L.A., just the way our fans are and take over that stadium. So it was disappointing to let them off the hook and get them out of that. Knowing how our fans roll, I have a feeling they won’t be much different here. I expect to have a good showing. ... After being here for a couple days like this is the right time to be here it’s the right place to be and it’s right team to go against.”
San Francisco held its first full practice of the week Monday in Australia, which was still Sunday night back in California.
Shanahan typically gives an injury update on the first practice day of a game week but opted against it because the Rams don't have to do it until they practice on Monday in California, which will be Tuesday in Australia.
So any updates on the status of players like tight end George Kittle and defensive end Nick Bosa will have to wait.
“Because we’re technically in the future, from where we’re from, and the Rams are in the present, I don’t have to talk about injuries until tomorrow.,” Shanahan said. “So I’m not talking about them.”
The one notable injury update Shanahan did give was that defensive end Sam Okuayinonu broke his foot at the team's last practice before leaving on Wednesday. He was placed on injured reserve and will miss most of the season.
The Niners kept the same eight captains for the season that they had last year. Quarterback Brock Purdy will be joined by McCaffrey, Kittle, Bosa, Kyle Juszczyk, Trent Williams, Fred Warner and Deommodore Lenoir.
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San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey speaks to the media ahead of a practice Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia, in preparation for an NFL football game against the Los Angeles, Rams. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks to the media ahead of practice Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia, in preparation for an NFL football game against the Los Angeles, Rams. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put his second naval destroyer into service and called for building a more reliable nuclear deterrent, state media reported Monday, as the U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral military exercise he views as a security threat.
The ship's commissioning comes as North Korea is dialing up pressure on the U.S. after rebuffing President Donald Trump's decision to scale back a major military drill with South Korea in a conciliatory step toward Kim. Observers say North Korea wants to wrest bigger U.S. concessions.
The destroyer Kang Kon was commissioned into North Korea's navy in the eastern port city of Wonsan Sunday at a ceremony attended by Kim and his teenage daughter, whom South Korea’s spy service calls his likely heir. North Korean state media photos showed the girl dressed in a white dress and blazer walking alongside her father on a red carpet, touring the warship and posing with sailors together.
The ship and the Choe Hyon, which was put into service in June, are both 5,000-ton destroyers equipped with nuclear-capable missiles, making them North Korea's most advanced warships.
In a speech at the ceremony, Kim said the back-to-back warship additions instilled fear in the enemies as the nuclear armament of North Korea's navy made it possible to exercise its nuclear deterrent in a more diversified, practical manner.
“Concerns of the enemies will be surely deepened,” Kim said. "We must establish more clearly a powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent, to put into practice the diverse and effective operation of our nuclear combat systems and further strengthen our military activities for maritime defense and war deterrence.”
On Monday, the U.S., South Korea and Japan kicked off their five-day Freedom Edge exercise in the waters off South Korea's southern Jeju island. South Korea's military said the exercise is defensive in nature and meant to enhance a joint response capability against North Korean nuclear threats. It said the exercise involves key maritime and aerial military assets of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
Last week, North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of more clearly expressing its confrontational posture against the North. It cited the Freedom Edge exercise and U.S. officials' reported comments that the U.S. remains committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
On Aug. 21, the U.S. and South Korean militaries ended their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise six days earlier than originally planned, after Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the drill. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with Kim, who views the drill as an invasion rehearsal.
But Kim's sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, shrugged off Trump's outreach, saying just shortening the drill won’t change its “provocative, aggressive nature.” North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently delivering on its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drill.
Kim Jong Un has previously said he could return to talks if the U.S. drops its “hostile policy” against North Korea and respects what he calls North Korea's status as a nuclear state.
Kim and Trump's earlier diplomacy collapsed in 2019 due to disputes on how much economic benefits North Korea should get in return for a limited denuclearization step. Now with his advancing nuclear program and deepened ties with Russia and China, experts say Kim has greater leverage than before.
South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
South Korean army soldiers work near their K-9 self-propelled howitzer in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, front center, his daugther, third left in front, and his wife Ri Sol Ju, second left in front, attend a commissioning ceremony of a destroyer, Kang Kon at a port in Wonsan, North Korea Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows a destroyer, Kang Kon at a commissioning ceremony at a port in Wonsan, North Korea Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un and his daugther attend a commissioning ceremony of a destroyer, Kang Kon at a port in Wonsan, North Korea Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
