WHETHER it was Ken Hinkley taking on former world No. 1 table tennis champion Wang Liquin, presenting Australia’s game to a congregation of China’s leading media or educating Shanghai schools about Australian Football, Port Adelaide’s promotional tour last week was warmly received according to club CEO Keith Thomas.

Six players, Hinkley and head of high performance Darren Burgess travelled with a dozen club officials to Shanghai in a joint reconnaissance-promotional exercise.

While Thomas and the Power’s head of China strategy Andrew Hunter met with media and government officials in the city, Hinkley and his team were busy training and meeting locals on the ground in Shanghai.

It gave Port a chance to present the public face of what will be a significant moment on May 14 when it hosts Gold Coast in a historic premiership season game in China’s second largest city.

“It was a success – there’s plenty more to do, though,” Thomas said.

“What we come away with is positivity that we’re welcome in Shanghai, and that we can look forward to showcasing Australia to the world through Port Adelaide and the AFL in May.

“We presented to China’s local and national media agencies, and government officials from Shanghai and the Yangpu district where the game will be held, and they are all very excited about May’s event.

“It won’t just be about football - although that’s obviously our main concern – we’ll be bringing the best of Australian industry to the game to give China a taste of Australia, and what Australian business can offer the world.”

Local kids on board in China

For more than 40,000 already-signed-up members – football is the chief concern of Port Adelaide and its supporter base.

It’s why Hinkley, Burgess and the six players led by skipper Travis Boak used the trip to learn more about the Jiangwan Stadium.

“We needed to get our footy guys familiar with what life in Shanghai will be like. It’s a 14-hour trip to get there from Adelaide, we put them in the hotel they’ll stay in during game-week, they familiarised themselves with local transport, they toured the stadium, saw the rooms, trained throughout the week,” Thomas said.

“It’s an unprecedented logistical exercise, but we’ve come away with significant local knowledge, which will help us in Round 8.”