No-show Ablett and Gray to play in AFL

May 13, 2017 - 6:49 AM Port Adelaide are adamant that star utility Robbie Gray will play in the historic AFL match against Gold Coast in Shanghai, despite him not being at 100 per cent.

Gray looked proppy during Saturday's training session at Jiangwan Stadium - but that is not unusual for him.

While there has been speculation for several weeks about Gray carrying injuries, the Power are confident he will come up again.

"It's one of those ones where you get a bit of soreness," Port assistant coach Michael Voss said of bandaging on Gray's leg.

"At this stage of the season, there are always players who have banged-up spots.

"They want a rest; we get a rest (bye) after this one."

Suns assistant coach Matthew Primus, who once coached Gray at Port, also expects him to play.

"I do know Robbie cannot look great... after games of footy, having known him for a few years," Primus said.

"We're expecting him to probably play a bit more as a forward than what he has the couple of weeks, but time will tell."

Gold Coast star Gary Ablett was the only player missing from their light training session earlier on Saturday.

Again, Primus said there is nothing wrong with Ablett, adding the midfield ace was having treatment at the team hotel.

"You just don't back him up the next day, like a good horse," Primus said.

Suns player Aaron Hall had plenty of strapping on a leg and was put through extra work, but is also expected to play.

This will be the first AFL match for premiership points outside of Australia and New Zealand.

The teams have raved about the playing surface and there is a feeling that so far the risky venture has gone better than expected.

"It's as good as anyone's surface going around," Primus said, noting the ground had drained well after Friday's heavy rain.

"It (the grass) is nice and short, it's going to be really 'quick', so that will suit us well."

Apart from the obvious significance of the match, it is an important assignment for the two teams.

Port are 4-3 and ruing last week's home loss to West Coast, where the Power were on top in most important statistics.

Gold Coast are 3-4 after an impressive win over Geelong, but they need more consistency.

The two teams have the bye next weekend, so this represents the end of a block of games in their season planning.

"It is an important one - last week they probably thought they let a game slip," Primus said.

"We need to get some games back.

"We played really well last week and you have heard a lot of players, they talk about our consistency.

"We want to play the style of footy we played last week, regardless of whether we're in China, or at Metricon or the MCG."

Source: AAP