Port Adelaide president David Koch hits back against critics of his club’s clash against Gold Coast in China
PORT Adelaide president David Koch is firing back at those tearing down his AFL club’s China adventure, labelling them cynics seeking to hold back the game’s growth.
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PORT Adelaide president David Koch is hitting back at the critics of his club’s “China Strategy” labelling them as hypocrites and resembling the cynics who emerge immediately before Olympic Games.
As Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos labels Sunday’s historic AFL Power-Gold Coast clash in Shanghai as “ridiculous”, Koch has challenged the knockers to make up their minds on what they expect of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
“Four years ago, Port Adelaide was accused of sucking the blood out of the AFL,” Koch told The Advertiser on Monday, referring to the Power’s tag as a “have not” AFL club relying on league hand-outs to clear suffocating debt.
“Now we’ve been bold and innovative. We’re trying something new and we’re being hit again,” added Koch.
“It’s like the week before the Olympics when everything is to go wrong before we have the greatest ever Games.”
Roos took issue with the China adventure as Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade revealed Suns players were being placed in economy seats for their long-haul flights from Brisbane to China this week.
Eade added that the smog warnings in Shanghai would force the Suns to keep at home players with asthma or respiratory problems.
Koch says Power players will not travel in economy seats after working a sponsorship deal with Cathay Pacific.
“I can’t answer for how Gold Coast arranged its travel,” he said.
“We have established a great partnership with Cathay Pacific – and they have taken care of the needs of our playing group.
“And we can’t control the weather here in Australia, let alone in China.
“We are a professional sporting code – and professional sporting teams do travel the world. We want to bring that professionalism to the AFL.”
Koch insists the Power is in China for the long-haul – at least the next five years, if the AFL Commission stands firm in its belief Australian football has much to gain, in particular from the Chinese wanting to invest in Australia.
“I told (AFL chief executive) Gillon (McLachlan) that Port Adelaide would be the most annoying club in the AFL because we would keep shaking things up; we would disrupt the flow to find new things and be innovative,” Koch said.
“China has the ability to revolutionise the code. For us, China is important going forward.”
Port Adelaide has found significant backers in China to underwrite the $4 million budget for Sunday’s game that marks the first AFL match played for premiership points outside Australia and New Zealand.
Club chief executive Keith Thomas is in negotiations with five new partners in China, where the Power is seeking financial backers to ensure it never again goes on the AFL welfare list.
The Advertiser understands at least three other AFL clubs are eager to replace Gold Coast in any match in China.
“We, as a football club, are opening avenues between China and Australia through sports diplomacy,” Koch said.
“That is why the federal government and China are so supportive of us.
“This is how sports brings two friendly neighbours – who have important economic goals with each other – together by goodwill.
“It is a different approach in sport. But surely we have moved on from the days of the steam engine when you needed people walking in front of the train with a red flag?”
Port Adelaide’s squad will leave for Shanghai on Tuesday evening, followed by the second travel group flying to China on Wednesday.
Power assistant coach Aaron Greaves has re-emphasised the Port Adelaide group is well-prepared to deal with the demands of international travel and Shanghai.
“There’s no concerns for us,” Greaves said. “We’ll leave the physical assessments to our fitness team (led by Darren Burgess) and we will pick the squad based on our best side available.
“We don’t know (what conditions will be). We’ve had training camps in Dubai where we’ve had similar reports (heat and sandstorms) and haven’t noticed a thing.
“We don’t have any concerns in that space (with smog in Shanghai).”
Greaves also is not concerned with how the players will adjust in China.
“Because we travel so much you don’t feel the enormity of it at the moment,” he said.
“Ask us mid-flight as we are arriving in Hong Kong, but it’s just excitement at the moment.
“Once we get over there, it will be business as usual. We’ll train Thursday and Saturday (as normal).”
Originally published as Port Adelaide president David Koch hits back against critics of his club’s clash against Gold Coast in China
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