Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane has had another dig at Port Adelaide following the Power's decision to play their Never Tear Us Apart anthem before the match.
In an AFL first, the Power will play the anthem for the first time away from Adelaide Oval, as they continue to try and make the match in Shanghai feel like a home game.
Following the AFL's decision to allow the Suns to wear their red and yellow jumper (the two colours on the Chinese flag) instead of their white away strip, Cochrane says it doesn't bother his club, and took a shot at Power chairman David Koch in the process.
โThat is fantastic,โ Cochrane told The Advertiser.
โWeโre not small-minded about these things."
The Gold Coast chairman went one step further and spoke joked about the their guernsey once again, after Koch had repeatedly asked for the Suns to consider their white strip.
โWe may just ask to have our team run out to the Chinese national anthem as it fits with our jumper that Port Adelaide keeps reminding us resembles the Chinese flag,โ Cochrane said.
โPort Adelaide has done a fantastic job in putting on this game in China.
โIf they want to make it feel like Adelaide Oval, it wonโt cause us any concern. Weโre simply not that small minded.โ
It's quite understandable that Cochrane said the Suns won't be concerned with how the Power act pre-game, given Port Adelaide had to pay Gold Coast $500,000 to move its home game to China as Port Adelaide have a deal in place with the Adelaide Oval to play all 11 home games at the venue.
Port Adelaide's marketing chief Matthew Richardsonย confirmed to The Advertiser Never Tear Us Apart would play before the match, with the anthem set to be tweaked to give it a Chinese feel.
โItโs a home game for Port Adelaide, so we will definitely have NTUA, Shanghai style,โ Richardson said.
โThere will be at least 5000 Port Adelaide fans in the sold-out crowd in the reconfigured 10,000-seat Jiangwan Stadium.
โAt Adelaide Oval, the Power supporters have come to take charge of the NTUA anthem singing the theme regardless of the backing music and audio on the stadium sound system."
Richardson said the 'Shanghai style' video would be recut to include elements of the Chinese culture and way of life in the production.
