Gold Coast Suns chairman clips Port Adelaide over running China stoush

PORT Adelaide will play its Never Tear Us Apart anthem in Shanghai but not before Gold Coast’s chairman delivered a backhander in reply.

PORT Adelaide will play its Never Tear Us Apart anthem in Shanghai next Sunday using the pre-game theme for the first time in an AFL game away from Adelaide Oval.

The Power’s move to take the INXS hit to China emphasises that Port Adelaide feels it has all the “home-field” rights at Shanghai, despite the AFL siding with Gold Coast’s wish to wear its red-and-yellow home jumper rather than its white “away” guernsey.

And there will be no backlash from the Gold Coast, although Suns chairman Tony Cochrane delivered a backhander to Port Adelaide when told of the NTUA anthem being on the running sheet for the historic AFL game in Shanghai.

“That is fantastic,” Cochrane told The Advertiser.

“We’re not small-minded about these things,” added Cochrane having a crack back at his Power counterpart David Koch.

Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray and president David Koch with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane and midfielder Touk Miller.

The Port Adelaide president has repeatedly taken issue with Gold Coast wearing its home guernsey, which resembles the Chinese national flag.

“We may just ask to have our team run out to the Chinese national anthem as it fits with our jumper that Port Adelaide keeps reminding us resembles the Chinese flag,” Cochrane said.

“Port Adelaide has done a fantastic job in putting on this game in China.

“If they want to make it feel like Adelaide Oval, it won’t cause us any concern. We’re simply not that small minded.”

Port Adelaide paid Gold Coast $500,000 to move its home game from Metricon Stadium to Shanghai for the first AFL match played for premiership points outside Australian and New Zealand.

And the Power insists it has bought all the home rights to the game at Jiangwan Stadium, even though the AFL continues to list Gold Coast first as the “home” team and is allowing the Suns to wear their home gear.

Port Adelaide introduced the NTUA anthem - along with Rudimental’s “Never Giving In” - to its presentation of the team entry when the Power moved to the redeveloped Adelaide Oval in 2014.

Club marketing chief Matthew Richardson says the 60-second countdown to the opening bounce with the NTUA anthem will be played in Shanghai as it would for any Power home game.

“It’s a home game for Port Adelaide, so we will definitely have NTUA, Shanghai style,” Richardson told The Advertiser.

“Shanghai style” means the video clip will be recut to add Chinese elements to the presentation.

“There will be at least 5000 Port Adelaide fans in the sold-out crowd in the reconfigured 10,000-seat Jiangwan Stadium, Richardson said.

“At Adelaide Oval, the Power supporters have come to take charge of the NTUA anthem singing the theme regardless of the backing music and audio on the stadium sound system.

Port Adelaide was compelled to buy a partner to China because its stadium agreement at Adelaide Oval compels the Power - and Crows - to play all of their 11 home games at the Oval.

While there is a one-year agreement with Gold Coast and the AFL Commission has not sanctioned any game in China beyond this ground-breaking match, Port Adelaide president David Koch expects the Power to return to Shanghai for at least the next five years.

The match has a $4 million budget that has been covered by significant sponsorship deals signed with new Chinese partners, in particular Shanghai billionaire Guo Jie Gui, who has invested in Australia with his Shanghai Cred empire.

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