How St Kilda has prepared for Shanghai game, an away game like no other

Playing an AFL game in China isn’t as simple as getting on a plane. St Kilda’s planning began in November to find the right flights and accomodation, the best places to eat and how many snacks to take.

Shane Savage outside Jiangwan Stadium. Picture: AAP

Nathan Brown headed to the hotel pool in Shanghai to loosen up for a lengthy flight.

He didn’t think of being out of place until he prepared to submerge his hulking frame in the water.

Usually the close-checking defender is used to an opposition forward running away from him, but on this day it was the swimmers.

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They took a look at his 195cm and started getting out of the pool.

“You stand out heaps,” he laughed.

“I went to the pool to loosen up and there was an all-male section.

“There were a fair few guys in there and they all looked at me a bit and were like ‘who’s this bloke?’. A couple of them got out.”

The gaping stares didn’t end there. It happened again at the coffee shop and then a bakery.

“I’ve been getting a few looks, but it’s all good,” he said.

Teammate Jade Gresham is 177cm.

But his “we’re not in Kansas anymore” moment came as he passed through immigration at Shanghai’s Pudong airport.

“He was a bit frazzled,” Brown said.

“Just the whole ‘has he got his passport’, all that sort of thing.”

St Kilda defender Nathan Brown has copped a few stares from locals. Picture: AFL Photos

Despite the reality check, Brown — a premiership player with Collingwood — can foresee a long-term benefit of the Shanghai experience.

He has travelled abroad with football groups before — a 2008 trip to Dubai to play a practice match and the Magpies well-publicised pre-season training trips to Arizona.

“I always go back to certain situations like going to Arizona for the first time as an 18-year-old … you always draw upon awesome experiences like this,” he said.

“We talk about that game (in Dubai) and how everyone got gastro. It’s more about the experience.

“I hope win or loss — and I hope we win here — but the whole different environment, everything … I think it’s going to be really good for the growth of the group.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

St Kilda’s first reconnaissance mission took place in November.

The club’s high-performance boss Matt Hornsby, chief executive Matt Finnis and players Jack Billings and Dan McKenzie jetted out of Melbourne in an effort to replicate the team’s schedule on the ground in Shanghai.

“We scoped out the hotel, the venue and some other parks nearby the hotel for getting out and exercising and doing the normal routine that they would follow if they were interstate,” Hornsby told the Herald Sun.

“We really approached that trip like we would for game day … it was a bit of a modified dry run for what this week would hold.

“What it made us realise is just that there’s not a lot of open parks and spaces nearby if you just want to go for a walk and have a stretch and a kick of the football.”

St Kilda players train at Jiangwan Stadium. Picture: AFL Photos

The program has been structured to resemble and interstate game, meaning the Saints didn’t want to arrive too early.

They jetted in late on Thursday before their final major session at Jiangwan Stadium.

Players travelled in business class and premium economy on a direct flight — except for returning skipper Jarryn Geary who flew a day earlier than his teammates and stopped in Hong Kong.

“They had a schedule to follow … we didn’t want them sleeping for six or seven hours, as it could potentially compromise their sleep that night,” he said.

“The guys are well aware of what that routine needs to look like, and they’re all pretty diligent.”

THE DIETITIAN

Alison Miles packed the game bag first this week — that one was the easy one.

There was the normal energy gels, electrolytes and recovery items.

Then came the players’ in-flight snack packs and swag of cold boxes for the club’s dietitian, to house the five family packs of Weet-Bix and all the other bits and pieces — using “Tetris-packing” to ensure nothing was left behind.

“There’s Vegemite travelling with us, there’s plenty of Weet-Bix, Milo, there’s Vita Weat crackers, lots of snacks for when they’re out and about,” Miles said.

While safety is paramount for Miles — who was also part of the team that oversaw the Australian Olympic Team’s campaign at the Winter Games in PyeongChang — it’s mostly about familiarity for her team of elite athletes to be able to be at their physical and mental peak come Sunday.

The Saints have packed plenty of food for the trip.

There are plenty of dim sim restaurants near where the Saints are staying.

And a sense of “normality” could mean that extra one per cent of performance.

“We want to keep things as normal as possible,” she said.

“Even though they’re travelling to a different country a 10-hour flight away, I want to see that when they get off the plane, they go to the hotel and it’s like they’ve arrived in a hotel in Perth or Adelaide.”

Miles has also worked closely with the team’s hotel, which is situated in the Jing’An district about 30 minutes from the stadium.

It has helped facilitate milk to come in from Australia, beef from Queensland, organic chicken and even yoghurt from France.

The hotel is surrounded by dim sum restaurants, grills and multi-story shopping complexes, but Miles has hand-picked a small selection of cafes for the players to hit up for their caffeine fixes.

“There’s been a lot of planning go on behind the scenes, and it gives the players a lot of confidence,” she said.

“Just familiar brands, too.

“(The hotel) is also helping to arrange a Chinese post-game meal for us afterwards which will still give the players the protein and carbohydrate requirements that they need after a game, but certainly show off their cuisine for the boys to try.”

A view of Shanghai.

THE ADMINISTRATOR

Four points are the aim, but it’s also about winning off the field.

For Saints chief executive Matt Finnis, there’s an “opportunity for us to grow the brand of St Kilda beyond our shores”.

There’s been five new game-day partners already announced, with the match launched in conjunction with Tourism Australia atop the iconic Bund with a horde of local media also in attendance.

The Saints also brought along the general manager of the South Metro Junior Football League — this isn’t just about the top level.

“To grow the game, you’ve got to not just be a game for young, white, Anglo-Saxon boys and girls coming through, but also other communities,” Finnis said.

AFL ABROAD

The Shanghai game is a 10-month project for the AFL, its head of China David Stevenson told the Herald Sun.

They have to ensure a safe surface and work on the facilities.

From a decimated soccer pitch four years ago, Jiangwan Stadium is now a first-rate footy ground.

Marquees, bars and seating have all been arranged to transform the 1935 stadium into the 21st century.

But it’s not without a touch of luxury.

Port Adelaide’s changerooms are in the ground’s “VIP” area — usually reserved for government officials and their guests — with massage tables set up in a wine cellar.

Precious artworks have made way for game plans and player lockers have been hired for the space framed by polished granite and stained glass detailing.

“We want to have a relationship with the Chinese people and that’s why it’s so important for us to play this game, to commit long term … you have to be in it wholeheartedly and it has to be a win-win scenario if you’re going to resonate with the local people, and hopefully we’re starting to do that,” Keith Thomas said.

NATHAN BROWN’S TIPS

Best travel advice: I don’t like arriving anywhere when it’s already dark. I really like to get my bearings — even in Shanghai at Jiangwan Stadium I like to know where the hotel is when I’m standing there, what direction The Bund is, things like that. I can never get that when I land at night.

Must-pack item: A pen. It’s simple, but from the arrival cards to being out and about you always need one and no one ever seems to have one.

Favourite travel destination: It’s changed a bit since having the kids, but a few of us are heading home and then straight to Byron Bay when we get home for the bye, which will be great.

What I’m reading: I love reading, but with the kids I just never have time! I’ve brought The Tattooist of Auschwitz with me to Shanghai — I’ve already read half of it. It’s intense.