The game will be played at 7.50pm on Monday at McDonald Jones Stadium, giving the Jets a four-day turnaround before next Friday night’s trip to Adelaide.

Jets coach Mark Jones said after training on Thursday that player welfare was of “utmost importance”.

“We’ve had a few issues through the year, not only in the A-League but in the W-League,” he said. “You don’t want to put players at risk.”

Wellington Phoenix coach Chris Greenacre was critical of the FFA two weeks ago after some of his players vomited at half-time during a 2-2 draw with Adelaide in temperatures nearing 40.

Phoenix had asked for the kick-off to be pushed back from 4.30pm local time, but the FFA said the wet bulb globe temperature, which takes account of ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind and solar radiation to measure the risk of heat-related injury or illness, was 25.6 degrees at kick-off, way below the 28-degree cut-off to shift a start time.

FFA rules allow drinks breaks once the WBGT pushes above 26 degrees, although FIFA sets the mark at 32.

“It could probably be addressed better after today. It probably will be addressed, I think,” Greenacre said at the time.

The weather bureau forecasts the temperature in Newcastle will climb to 41 on Saturday and Sunday then fall to 24 on Monday.      

Jones said Thursday’s decision to postpone the game, which was due to kick off at 5.35pm, was sensible.

“Obviously it’s a little bit inconvenient, but these things happen. It’s better than playing in 42-degree heat,” he said.

He said he was not overly concerned about the four-day break between games. 

“Short turnaround, but we’ve had to do that before. We’ll manage that.

“Our recovery protocols are very good, and we’re fairly much on track with what we need to do in our preparations for games.

“Obviously, it’s our third game against Adelaide, so we sort of know which way we want to approach that game. We’ll deal with things as they come along.”

A-League boss Greg O’Rourke said both clubs had welcomed the decision.

"Today's forecast leaves no doubt that the conditions on Saturday in Newcastle will be significantly above the thresholds we have in place under the FFA heat policy, so we have made the decision to move the Newcastle v Melbourne Victory match to Monday night," he said in a statement.

"Taking into consideration the obvious player welfare concerns as well as the need to give players, teams and fans the best possible opportunity to plan for the match, moving the match to Monday night is the only decision we could make."

Meanwhile, Finnish striker Aleksandr Kokko could have a chance to score his first A-League goal after being restored to the Jets squad on Thursday.

Kokko is unlikely to start but could earn a place on the bench, despite Jones saying recently that he was open to offers for the 29-year-old.