Despite what Kochie and the AFL will tell you, this China game is an absolute shambles
It started off in unconvincing fashion when Port Adelaide signed a multi-million dollar, multi year contract to play a competitive game in China without an indicated opponent, and things really haven’t improved since.
The Power eventually convinced (by paying a substantial figure) the struggling Gold Coast Suns to take one of their home games away from a nearly empty Metricon Stadium to a nearly empty Jiangwan Stadium in eastern Shanghai.
Then the Port hierarchy realised that in their haste to find an opponent that was desperate enough for the cash to actually travel to China to play footy, the challenger they had convinced wore the colours of the Chinese flag.
What proceeded was a month long whinge by Port Adelaide, coupled with failed threats to ‘never work with this mob again’ if the Suns refused their rightful privilege of wearing their home guernsey in what is a ‘home’ match for them — the nerve of them, hey!
The Suns promptly refused, due mainly to the fact that Kochie is as threatening as a puppy wrapped in a thick towel, lying in front of an open fire place, drinking warm milk.
Now there are reports that the air pollution in China — which already resembles an inner-suburban Melbourne nightclub during the mid-2000’s when cigarettes were yet to be banned indoors — is going to be made a hell of a lot worse by an apocalyptic sandstorm that is covering an area the size of Western Australia.
Couple all of those things with the fact that the Suns and the AFL haven’t managed to organise BUSINESS CLASS seats for their players’ flight to China (seriously, imagine Peter Wright sitting in cattle class), and you start to get why everyone is asking the same question: “why the hell is this match even happening?”
There’s not even any interest in this match inside China itself.
The match is yet to be sold to a broadcaster within China, and so far only 10,000 tickets have been sold — which the AFL will try to tell you is a near sell out on their own website, stating the capacity of Jiangwan Stadium as 11,000, when in actual fact the capacity is closer to 25,000.
Everything about this match is a complete joke.
Rodney Eade said as much on Triple M on Sunday, stating that they would consider not taking players with Asthma or any other respiratory issues, and when asked whether he was looking forward to the match, his response was, “well, I guess the party line I have to say is, yes I am.”
How convincing is that.
The players want nothing to do with this game either — I mean, why would they? 20 hours in transit, heavy air pollution, no crowd, and having to eat and stay inside the hotel the entire time they’re there — outside of the actual game itself.
So if the players, fans and one of the head coaches don’t want this match to take place, why the fuck is it?
It’s clear that the AFL want to try and grow the game in a foreign market, and Kochie wants his club at the forefront of something other than racial vilification of opposition players and punch-ons between mulleted supporters.
The AFL is having a hard enough time growing the game in Western Sydney; why the fuck attempt to grow it China?
It literally makes no sense.
The quicker this game is over and done with for all involved and the footy loving public, the better.
That is, until we have to hear about it again this time next year.
And again in 2019.
