Gold Coast’s clash against Port Adelaide in China now feels like normal game but with a long plane trip

LAST year everything about the China game was shiny and new and there were many questions needing answers, including whether anybody in China will care about the game. But this year, it feels like it’s just another match but with a longer plane trip.

Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak and Gold Coast Suns co-captain Steven May pose for a photo overlooking the skyline in Shanghai.

THERE seems to have been an attitude reversal around the AFL’s move into China.

The novelty factor of playing a game in Asia that surrounded the whole week last year has gone and for the players, and it seems for fans back home in Australia, it is starting to feel like just another game, albeit with a much longer plane trip.

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Last year everything was new. The news centred around the length of travel, air quality, the state of the stadium surface what the players would eat and would anybody in China take any notice.

But Suns captain Steven May said this week felt like any other week on the road.

“Last year they spoke about the smog, sand storms, and naturally having never been here I didn’t know what to expect,’’ he said.

Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak and Gold Coast Suns co-captain Steven May pose for a photo overlooking the skyline in Shanghai.

“But the weather was amazing on game day, we’ve trained here today and there was no problems there.

“About the novelty factor, there was a bit of that back then because it was such a big historic moment but now we are just here for four points.’’

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However, the fascination is starting to grow for the Chinese.

Saturday’s match between Port Adelaide and Gold Coast at Shanghai’s Jiangwan Stadium is a sell out and the AFL reports slightly more than half the tickets and corporate entertainment packages were bought by Chinese nationals.

Gold Coast Sun players train at Jiangwan Stadium.

Of the 5000 Aussies who have made the trek, the majority are Port Adelaide fans.

Interest is growing because more Chinese are learning about the game through the media.

The AFL have struck deals with Shanghai TV, Shading TV and Guangzhou TV to broadcast the game live giving it a potential audience greater than any game in history and the match is being promoted on those stations.

At the official captains and coaches press conference on Thursday 27 different Chinese media outlets were in attendance, heavily outnumbering the Australian contingent which has shrunk considerably from last time around.

And they asked a lot of questions. Last year the few questions were about how the players liked Shanghai but this time there were plenty about the game and Australia.

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