There’s more than one “showdown” at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, with participants in the other game making an epic journey to football’s centre stage.

The eighth Aboriginal Lands Challenge Cup will be an exciting curtain-raiser to Balfours Showdown XXXIII when Port Adelaide hosts Adelaide as a part of AFL Round 15.

A team from the remote Maralinga Tjarutja (MT) Lands will take on a side from the Anangu Pitjanjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, with the match kicking off at 4.10pm ahead of the AFL clash which begins at 7.10pm.

The visiting players, coaches and support staff have been in Adelaide all week, training and preparing for the game and also taking part in career and education sessions and cultural seminars, with additional support from the SANFL.

The MT Lands team is aligned to the Port Adelaide Football Club which has built a strong bond with the region in the far west of South Australia. The side will visit Alberton Oval on Thursday and again on Friday when they will enjoy a brief run with the Power squad.

Port Adelaide’s links to the MT Lands has been a two-way partnership, formed over the past four years.

Supported by the AFL and the Federal department of Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the club has made regular visits to the main population centre of Oak Valley along with nearby Ceduna, Koonibba and Yalata.

Power players have joined the visits, encouraging young people to stay in school and participate in team sport in a bid to develop healthy bodies and minds.

Students from five schools in the region have come to Adelaide during the past four years, along with representatives of Koonibba Football Club which is the oldest Indigenous football club in Australia.

Ceduna Area School is a regular participant in the Aboriginal Power Cup, which for the past five years has encouraged Indigenous students to stay in school by offering them the opportunity to play in an annual football carnival in Adelaide.