Is the China experiment in reality dead and buried?

[saynta]

And thank the lord for that,if that turns out to be the case.

From heraldsun.com.au

"Port Adelaide’s China experiment is on shaky ground, with no guarantee the club will play there again.

With its scheduled match against St Kilda in May cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, China being the epicentre of the virus and the Power – like all AFL clubs – in financial peril because of football’s shutdown, chairman David Koch conceded the ambitious three-year venture was in jeopardy.

“I’ve actually got no idea (how that will look),’’ he said.

“We will discuss with the AFL, State and Federal governments and our partners who support us in China about the future of it.

“Our whole China strategy originally was not predicated on having a game.

“We’ll have to assess that coming out (of the pandemic) but at the moment, in terms of priorities, it’s not a massive priority for us to make a decision on.

“If we do the game again at the same time (May), it’s well over a year away and a lot can happen in a year, so I’m not sure.

“The thing that hasn’t changed is that China is still Australia’s biggest customer and biggest trading partner, so it’s still a significant part of the Australian business, political and economic sector.’’

Port has played three AFL matches in China – against Gold Coast in 2017 and 2018 and St Kilda last year – winning all three by an average of 10 goals.


It was scheduled to play the Saints in Shanghai in round 11 this year before that match was moved to Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium when the pandemic hit.

Now the AFL fixture will change again because of football’s shutdown.

No games have been played since round one but the AFL is still planning on a 17-round season.

Koch said the Power’s foot in China, where it pays rivals to move their home games but makes money from business opportunities, would be one of several club initiatives that would need to be reviewed because of the massive financial hit clubs have copped due to COVID-19.

“What’s happened in the past eight weeks has completely rocked the globe,’’ Koch told ABC SA Grandstand.

“We, like every other AFL club and sporting organisation that’s been affected by this, are in the fight of our life to continue going forward.

“None of us has ever gone through something like this before and you’ve just got to prioritise what’s important to your club to make sure the organisation can go on into the future.

“It means making really tough decisions that you don’t necessarily want to make because it involves peoples lives, their financial security and you’ve got to balance that up with the survival of a 150-year organisation.’’

Port has asked for financial assistance from the AFL and Koch said all club programs would be under review.

“It depends what you want your club to be,’’ he said, adding the AFL and its clubs would “take years’’ to recover from their current plight.

“As a club we spend about $3m a year on community programs. Do we say, no more community programs at AFL clubs because we should be putting that money aside for a once in a 100-year event?

“I don’t know the answer to that but AFL clubs have evolved into being broader than just football clubs, particularly our club which is the only non-Victorian club to have risen from community football to the elite level of football and community is part of our DNA.

“But do we need to rein that back in to provide a bigger financial buffer against things like this happening?’’

[samuraisaint]

No AFL club will play in China for the forseeable future.

[The Fireman]

Shame.. because in the near future some patching up will begin between the two largest trading partners in the region and the Saints could play a major part in that. Make no mistake China is our cash cow.
Apart from allowing our pollies selling of our assets I say business as usual.

Have a chuckle at the short sighted little picture contributors on here

[Trixilver]

Why don't we try New Zealand?

[Special]

Why don't we try New Zealand?

We could even play in NZ this year - imagine if the NZ government allowed crowds in and our borders with NZ opened soon?

Imagine if crowds were banned here but not there?

It’s plausible to allow, say, a thousand people into a largish area/ground and somehow set up social distancing.
Bunnings can hold over 500 people at a time in some of their stores UNDER STAGE 3 restrictions in Victoria right now!!!

hmm.....

[kosifantutti]

The article and the heading don’t match. Nothing suggests it’s “dead and buried”

It might happen, it might not.

This is the actual Herald Sun headline.

“ Port Adelaide’s prized China venture is under threat and there is no guarantee the club will play there again”

[saynta]

The article and the heading don’t match. Nothing suggests it’s “dead and buried”

It might happen, it might not.
q
This is the actual Herald Sun headline.

“ Port Adelaide’s prized China venture is under threat and there is no guarantee the club will play there again”

I think history will prove I am right. But I agree with your comment.

I have amended the title to what I was originally going to post.


À

[AuckSaint]

For those guys commenting about New Zealand for games....a quick update from Auckland. Our restrictions have just been relaxed a bit from 2 days ago, but are still more severe than most Aust states. We have just allowed food outlets to reopen but only drive thru, delivery and at the door (i.e. no one allowed in any premises). Malls are still shut as is all other retail (except hardware - you can go to Bunnings and pick up online orders only - no access to store). So we are still in pretty serious lockdown.

No sports have announced any recommencement of fixtures or competitions (professional or amateur) yet. No announcement or rules around sport are expected for at least 2 weeks and can only start during level 2 (we assume). So I think there's probably more chance of it getting going in a hub in one of the states than here; even though any game involving the Saints in Auckland would be appreciated by me!

[shanegrambeau]

Why not have the hubs in the South China Sea? Why don’t the Royal Australian Navy sponsor the Saints?

For people who think we should continue to cuddle up to the CCP, do you believe in US military propaganda published on YT this week? Surely it is just hogwash? Let’s embrace our ‘cash cow’ right?

Do you really believe what China has done in the last three weeks while the world is distracted? Violating international laws and naming 25 new islands and reefs, claiming 55 underwater entities April 24, sinking Vietnamese fishing boat and detaining their would be rescuers April 3? Trespassing on Vietnamese, Filipino, Japanese waters. Harassing Malaysian oil ships?

Do you believe that as we speak, a Royal Australian Ship, (that would be us), is currently carrying out military exercises with the US Navy in the South China Sea?

Come on Saints....we are righteous enough to stop Casinos to help us pay off our debt (showing our superiority to Hawthorn) That’s why the RAN navy need to sponsor us, because we can put the Casinos on navy ships, and high rollers from Macau can spend in the South China Sea and bet on games played in the hubs. How much tax payer money does a damn frigate need anyway? The Chinese folks are hungry for footy, always have been. Let’s do it right? Those YouTube videos be damned. Damn the torpedos, and damn the Mekong River tributaries, because that is another tactic China are using to put pressure on Vietnam.

CCP Saints!

Hubs in the South China Sea.

[Trev from the Bush]

Cricket Australia has invested heavily in introducing cricket to China in recent years to no avail. They have sent countless amounts of equipment over there but when they go there to run clinics it has disappeared.

Apparently, locals have eaten all the bats!

[ace]

No the chinese experiment is still trying to come up with virus that will kill us all.

[shanegrambeau]

So many things from the west are succeeding in China. Banking on the Chinese wealth and their thirst for status symbols. So fashion, food and cars are all the craze. Cadillac was going broke until they started going gangbusters in China ten years ago and by 2025 will have 500 dealerships.

I am sure supporting St Kilda is an obvious status symbol in China!

But actually, it could be that being an 'individual' could mean some Chinese choose Aussie footy and follow it to be 'unique' or 'cool'. Maybe that is what some of this is about. NBA, NFL and WWE are booming this way but they are already known by billions across the globe. I would say Gaelic football would have as much chance as AFL of becoming something in China.

[Shaggy]

So many things from the west are succeeding in China. Banking on the Chinese wealth and their thirst for status symbols. So fashion, food and cars are all the craze. Cadillac was going broke until they started going gangbusters in China ten years ago and by 2025 will have 500 dealerships.

I am sure supporting St Kilda is an obvious status symbol in China!

But actually, it could be that being an 'individual' could mean some Chinese choose Aussie footy and follow it to be 'unique' or 'cool'. Maybe that is what some of this is about. NBA, NFL and WWE are booming this way but they are already known by billions across the globe. I would say Gaelic football would have as much chance as AFL of becoming something in China.

i agree with the cynicism. There is no chance AFL will take off in China.

For the Saints it is a pure cash play.

China represents 32% of Australian exports.

We make super profits for our one game a year playing in China because it is a cheap marketing tool for corporates in the PRC market.

[Sanctorum]

In today's papers Mick Malthouse expresses his emphatic view that the AFL should abandon the move into China forthwith.

Love Mick or loathe him, he was a great coach, what he would have done with the St Kilda teams in the 2009 and 2010 GFs doesn't bear thinking about - Nick Riewoldt has indicated that his preference was always for a "hard nut" coach and Mick may well have made him into an even better player, but that's an argument for another day...

"Coaching great Mick Malthouse has called on the AFL to boycott China, pinning the blame for the coronavirus pandemic on the east Asian nation.

As things stand Port Adelaide is contracted to play at Shanghai’s Jiangwan Stadium next year against St Kilda, with this season’s match in China cancelled due to the pandemic.

Port has played three games at the venue since 2017, and the Power and the Saints reportedly made $1 million each from last year’s clash.

Malthouse says whatever the monetary value the AFL should not be played in China again, telling The Herald Sun he would “very, very reluctant” to play a game in a country that “has put us in this position”.

“In the present predicament, and what’s come out with the spat between Australia and China and probably most of the world, let’s face it, certainly the Americans … I’d be very, very reluctant to go back to China,” he said.

“You can’t sell your soul.
“They’re only going to be going there for one reason (money) – you sell your soul.”

Malthouse’s issues with China seemingly go deeper than the current pandemic, with the former West Coast coach taking aim at the nation’s government.

“The last thing we need to do is sell our soul, and I think most people are seeing that. I’m not anti-Chinese. Am I anti-Chinese government? Yes I am. Any regimen that suppresses free opinion, free voice, free religion automatically riles me.

“But I don’t think we should be seen to be selling our soul to a regimen that clearly has different values than we do.”

[magnifisaint]

I really hope so. China should become irrelevant. It won't but I wish it would. No one believes what comes out of that place.

[saynta]

In today's papers Mick Malthouse expresses his emphatic view that the AFL should abandon the move into China forthwith.

Love Mick or loathe him, he was a great coach, what he would have done with the St Kilda teams in the 2009 and 2010 GFs doesn't bear thinking about - Nick Riewoldt has indicated that his preference was always for a "hard nut" coach and Mick may well have made him into an even better player, but that's an argument for another day...

"Coaching great Mick Malthouse has called on the AFL to boycott China, pinning the blame for the coronavirus pandemic on the east Asian nation.

As things stand Port Adelaide is contracted to play at Shanghai’s Jiangwan Stadium next year against St Kilda, with this season’s match in China cancelled due to the pandemic.

Port has played three games at the venue since 2017, and the Power and the Saints reportedly made $1 million each from last year’s clash.

Malthouse says whatever the monetary value the AFL should not be played in China again, telling The Herald Sun he would “very, very reluctant” to play a game in a country that “has put us in this position”.

“In the present predicament, and what’s come out with the spat between Australia and China and probably most of the world, let’s face it, certainly the Americans … I’d be very, very reluctant to go back to China,” he said.

“You can’t sell your soul.
“They’re only going to be going there for one reason (money) – you sell your soul.”

Malthouse’s issues with China seemingly go deeper than the current pandemic, with the former West Coast coach taking aim at the nation’s government.

“The last thing we need to do is sell our soul, and I think most people are seeing that. I’m not anti-Chinese. Am I anti-Chinese government? Yes I am. Any regimen that suppresses free opinion, free voice, free religion automatically riles me.

“But I don’t think we should be seen to be selling our soul to a regimen that clearly has different values than we do.”

Hear, hear, Mickey Milkshake.