'The AFL will work with Port Adelaide to explore all available options to take a first game for premiership points into China,” McLachlan said.
It’s a doomed venture, just like every previous attempt. Why do we persist with this delusion that our game will thrive abroad? Are we simply craving validation for footy?
This isn’t the first time the AFL has pursued international markets. In the past 50-odd years, the league has tried Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, New Zealand and Asia.
So far, the experiments have failed in every meaningful way, other than boosting the frequent flyer points of AFL House employees. Perhaps the league thinks doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a sign of persistence and not insanity.
Even the recent New Zealand failure has failed to dampen the AFL’s global ambitions
St Kilda has all but given up on its Kiwi jaunt after three years of falling crowds and lacklustre interest.
