Adelaide Crows. Port Power. Many South Aussies will align closely with one of these Australian Rules Football teams. A few, for whom we cannot fathom the sentiment, say they barrack for both. “They’re both South Australian.” Yeah, but really, surely you want one to win.

We have both followed the Adelaide Crows since day one. There are many blog posts yet to be written about trips to watch them interstate, two Premierships, stories of getting hold of Grand Final tickets, and numerous footy parties to reminisce about.

We are firmly in the “We love the Adelaide Crows, and we hate Port Power” group. Although we acknowledge others’ rights to like them both, we never will. The only time we might barrack for Port Power is if they are playing Collingwood. Although, in that instance, we would prefer a draw.

Actually, we actively barrack for any team playing against Port Adelaide Power. In 2017, the year of Port Adelaide’s inaugural trip to play AFL in China, we decided to go to and barrack for the opposition. So, we planned a trip to Shanghai – it was on our list to visit anyway, and a sporting event is something to plan a trip around.

We booked with China Southern who were providing good connections for the event. There is another entire blog post to come one day about delays with China Southern. But back to Port Adelaide. To be a little irritating, I decided that my daypack for this trip should be an Adelaide Crows bag. It was noticed, sure enough, by others staying in our hotel. “Oh, you’re the Adelaide Crows supporters” was the morning greeting in the breakfast room!

Port Adelaide’s opposition for that first AFL game in China was the Gold Coast Suns. Kirk and Karen (close friends of Tammy’s) used to live in the Gold Coast, so we drew on their generosity and borrowed Gold Coast Suns scarves and caps to wear to the match.

The day before the match, we went to the stadium to collect tickets and check out the merchandise available. Plenty of Port Power T-shirts, flags and other paraphernalia. Gold Coast? Not so much, but we were able to purchase a Gold Coast T-shirt, hidden near the back behind the Port Power gear.

Prior to the match on game day, there was a carnival atmosphere just outside the stadium. News crews were interviewing fans – as a couple of only a few Gold Coast “fans” we were interviewed by a crew but never saw if our snippet made it on air. We saw lots of celebrities and notable sports folk. We gathered all the Gold Coast goodies we could and enjoyed photos with the Australian mascots.

The game itself was a little disappointing, as the Gold Coast Suns were well and truly pummelled by Port Power. The most enjoyable part of the actual match was helping the locals understand the rules and interpret the play.

As the stadium was concrete seating, they had put out commemorative cushions for everyone. At the end of the match, many spectators (Aussies and Shanghai locals alike) could be seen carting these cushions home with them on the subway. Indeed, even as we caught the flight home (did I mention there is likely to be another blog post about delayed China Southern flights??), so many folk were cramming footy cushions into the overhead lockers as hand luggage!!!

So, did we enjoy barracking for the opposition? Yes, as always. But one moment stands out in this story. The day before the match, when we went to collect our tickets, we ran into the Port Adelaide great, Russell Ebert. There we were, carrying our Adelaide Crows bag, but he spared the time to chat for a little while; a true gentleman.

We might have a strong inter-club rivalry, but at a time like this we put rivalries aside. We acknowledge and respect sporting greatness. He was a champion player, a great ambassador for South Australian sport. A legend. We have friends who knew him very well; we personally only met him briefly. There is a state funeral for Russell Ebert tomorrow; we remember that meeting with fondness. Vale Russell Ebert.