Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong gives a Port Adelaide Football Club guernsey to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Penny Wong has made a major hometown power play in her meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has deployed her hometown footy colours at a high-stakes meeting with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, presenting the sports fan with a Port Adelaide guernsey.

At crucial Quad foreign minister talks in Washington, Senator Wong presented Mr Rubio with a personalised Power guernsey, emblazoned with his surname and number one – traditionally reserved for the club captain.

Senator Wong displayed the gift in front of a South Australian flag at Australia’s embassy, ahead of presenting it to Mr Rubio in a secure facility where cameras were forbidden.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong with the Port Adelaide guernsey she presented to United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Picture: Supplied

She told The Advertiser it was intended as a fun gift, alongside a formal present, from one football fan to another.

“As a proud South Australian and a lifelong Port supporter, it was special to gift Secretary Rubio a personalised guernsey,” she said.

“He is a Miami Dolphins fan but I’m hoping we can encourage him to back the Power from across the Pacific.”

Mr Rubio is a lifelong fan of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, for which his wife, Jeanette, was a cheerleader.

The-then Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer presenting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with an Adelaide Crows guernsey during a 2005 visit to the White House.

He played American football at high school and won a college football scholarship. The couple’s son, Anthony, is a running back for the Florida Gators college team.

Senator Wong’s hometown AFL diplomacy follows in the footsteps of Advertiser columnist Alexander Downer, who as Foreign Affairs Minister in 2005, gave an Adelaide Crows guernsey to then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Originally published as Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong gives a Port Adelaide Football Club guernsey to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio