Kyle Shanahan praises 49ers fans, takes shot at Rams on Australia game

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan hasn't exuded excitement about his team having to open its season with an international game. Part of that had to do with 49ers fans.

Shanahan on Sunday while speaking with reporters in Australia said part of the reason he had misgivings about the Week 1 matchup was that despite the Los Angeles Rams being the designated home team, he feels like it's the 49ers giving up a home game.

"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.," Shanahan said. "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. But, I have a feeling knowing how our fans roll, I have a feeling they won't be much different here. I expect to have a good showing. I wouldn't say it hit me right on the plane, but after being here for a couple days, this is the right time to be here, it's the right place to be and it's the right team to go against."

49ers fans have typically taken over SoFi Stadium to the point the Rams offense has had to go to a silent count at home. Since Shanahan took over as the 49ers coach in 2017 his club is 7-2 in nine regular season games vs. the Rams at SoFi Stadium, including a wild 26-23 overtime win last year without Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Ricky Pearsall.

Shanahan multiple times in his press conference expressed the importance of every game across an 18-week season, which led to some of his displeasure with the potential competitive impact on having the game on another continent.

However, it wouldn't be a surprise to a see a sea of red at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday evening. 49ers fans not only travel, but they're popular internationally as well, so Shanahan's concerns about losing the road home game may not be a problem.