AFL supremo Gillon McLachlan believes the league has consolidated its entry into China, hinting that the annual Shanghai game will remain in its current format - albeit perhaps with a Victorian club involved.
Port Adelaide maintained their Shanghai supremacy on Saturday, backing up last year's inaugural triumph with an 11.16 (82) to 6.6 (42) victory over Gold Coast at Jiangwan Stadium.
Large sections of seating were empty and the game was largely a wet-weather scrap but McLachlan declared the event a success.
The AFL had been expecting a sellout crowd of about 11,000 and came close to hitting that number with an official attendance of 10,689 - slightly higher than last year.
McLachlan attributed the empty seats to the fact many spectators had flocked to hospitality marquees behind the grandstands.
He was also satisfied with the quality of the game despite Gold Coast only scoring two majors after quarter-time and Port missing a number of easy shots on goal.
The AFL will review the China game in coming months to decide what improvements can be made and, crucially, who will contest it.
While Port are virtually certain to retain the fixture, Gold Coast are yet to commit to coming back and the AFL sees strong appeal in having a Melbourne-based team involved given that the city hosts a large Chinese population.
Financial strugglers St Kilda would be an obvious contender, having previously played for premiership points in New Zealand.
Victoria's trade minister Philip Dalidakis attended the game and took the opportunity to lobby McLachlan on behalf of the state government.
"They're very keen on getting a Victorian team to play up here," McLachlan told reporters.
"We'll assess today, see where the Suns and Port are at and everyone's at and have a look at the game, and obviously talk to the Victorian government and Victorian teams about the level of interest."
McLachlan said the Suns, who have lost four straight games and sit 15th on the ladder, would need to weigh up their future involvement.
"That's a decision for them but they've had a couple of years up here now," he said.
"They may say that they want to focus on consolidating at home and someone else can have the game ... I don't know."
The review will also consider whether AFLX could replace a premiership game being played in China but McLachlan hinted that was unlikely.
"I think over the last 36 hours ... it just feels like there's a level of consolidation that a lot of people want this game to continue," he said.
"The AFLX may be complementary, it may be the replacement - I don't know. We'll have a look at it. It certainly gives us other options. But today I think has been a pretty good day."
