The AFL will take its game to the new frontier of China on Sunday, with Port Adelaide and Gold Coast playing a match for premiership points in Shanghai - the first time this has happened outside Australia or New Zealand.
While the occasion is a great marketing opportunity for the two clubs involved, and the code more broadly, there are one or two logistical problems that have raised their heads in recent days.
Chief among them is the smog that is so prevalent in China's big cities. Then there's also the fact that the Suns' players will have to catch a bus to Brisbane airport first, because there are no direct flights from Gold Coast - meaning they're braced for a 21-hour trip, door-to-door.
Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade stated unequivocally at the weekend that he will not take any players who suffer from asthma or respiratory issues on the plane to China, fearing the smog will exacerbate their conditions.
It also transpires that one of the key players in the match, Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak, is an asthma sufferer who takes his Ventolin puffer to every game.
Boak told ESPN that he noted in November - when he and seven other Port players travelled to China to promote the contest, visit schools and look at possible venues - Shanghai's humidity and air pollution.
"When we did go over to China, we got a feel for the conditions," he told ESPN. "I think it'll be a lot warmer, very similar to the conditions in Darwin where we have played before. Obviously the air is a bit thicker over there, and being an asthmatic it's not great, but we will adapt."
Gold Coast co-captain Stephen May said the AFL was also concerned about the effects of smog, scheduling the game quite early in the day - and in May, when conditions were supposed to be reasonably mild.
"I think [the smog] is part of the reason why we're playing early in the afternoon (1.15pm local time), but I think we aimed at a point in the year where we're a big chance of avoiding some of that bad weather," May told ESPN.
Boak's manager Tom Petroro told ESPN on Monday: "I haven't spoken to Travis since last week. I think if he had an issue, I would say he would've called me on it.
"The players are all committed to the game. I think they're really excited about the opportunity. A lot of players are bringing their family."
Eade said at the weekend the China trip also presented his team with difficult travel logistics.
"You can't get a direct flight there," Eade said. "It is going to be (difficult) and not many players are in business class, so exit rows, all those sorts of things.
"That's probably more my concern - the preparation for players and even coming back as well, even though we have the bye the next week."
Showing them the money, finally
The AFL Players' Association is likely to approve the AFL's revised remuneration deal, as the bitter pay war finally finds a resolution.
Players are currently reviewing the AFL's counter offer after protracted - and at times heated - negotiations reached a breakthrough agreement last week.
Their decision is said to be imminent.
Under the AFL's compromised offer, the players are set to receive a bumper pay boost of up to 20 per cent for the first year, then marginal increases of 1.2 per cent in 2018, 1.3 per cent in 2019 and then two per cent rises in 2020-2022.
The new deal will see the average player wage rise to $371,000 - a $62,000 increase. The AFLPA has long sought to receive a percentage of the game's revenue, largely produced from the competition's lucrative television rights, which added $2.5 billion into league coffers across the six-year deal.
The players' union first wanted the percentage model to be adopted in 2011 under then-chief executive Andrew Demetriou, but the pitch was swiftly shot down by AFL executives.
The pay-stoush settlement will also allow clubs to finally engage in contract deals with its players, especially those big names coming out of contract such as Dustin Martin, Nat Fyfe and Stephen May, with many teams delaying talks until the CBA deal was brokered.
Round 7 - beautifully unpredictable
Was Round 7 the worst tipster's nightmare in memory? You bet.
It was only the 11th time in VFL/AFL history that every match of round was won by the lower placed team - and the first time since 1975 (when the VFL was, of course, a 12-team competition).
Greater Western Sydney, the 'Winx of the competition' as SEN radio host Kevin Bartlett repeatedly says, was beaten by St Kilda on Friday night and that set in train a series of upsets over the next 48 hours.
North Melbourne got a whiff of the revolution on Saturday afternoon and blew the previously unbeaten Adelaide off the park in Hobart, kicking 10.4 to no score in the first quarter - a result so far off the wall as to defy any conventional analysis.
Then, in order, Carlton, West Coast, Gold Coast, Western Bulldogs, Sydney, Hawthorn and Fremantle all got in on the act - defeating higher-ranked opponents and, at the same time, making idiots of most pundits and punters.
Hawks' caution with wounded recruit
Hawthorn forward Jack Gunston has urged a cautious approach with wounded young gun Jaeger O'Meara, after the boom recruit was a late withdrawal due to his problematic knee.
"I thought he was playing today to be honest. [The knee] obviously just hasn't come up. I think he pulled up a bit sore from last week," Gunston told ESPN after the match.
"Hopefully he's ready for next week, but it's just something you've got to manage and be careful with. It's the type of injury that if you keep putting him out there, you risk having him out for a longer period."
O'Meara returned to the side last week after spending two weeks recovering from knee soreness.
The Hawks say the injury is a result of a knock O'Meara received in Round 2 and is unrelated to the serious patella tendon issues which sidelined the midfielder for two years.
"Jaeger was feeling great going in to last week's clash but unfortunately, despite us giving him every opportunity to get up for today's match, he still has some soreness around his knee," Hawks football manager Jason Burt told the club's website.
"Fortunately, the irritation is still in relation to the knock he received in round two and separate from the problems Jaeger has faced in the past.
"We have said all along, given his history, we will take a cautious approach."
Tigers ready to roar
Richmond's Shaun Grigg says the Tigers' youthful list is building towards something exciting, despite consecutive losses following an unblemished start.
The Tigers looked like a September force in the opening half against reigning premiers, the Western Bulldogs, but lacked the composure to finish the job.
The Bulldogs reversed a 32-point deficit to score a come-from-behind five-point win.
"To match them [the Bulldogs] for much of the game is pleasing. It's obviously disappointing we couldn't get over the line, but there are some positives," Grigg told ESPN.
"Our pressure on the ball I felt was pretty good. We're heading in the right direction."
The Tigers were unbeaten in the first five rounds before stepping up against two finals-bound sides - Adelaide and the Bulldogs.
Grigg assures fans the team has what it takes to match it with the competition's best.
"We'll learn from it again. We're doing some things right, but there are some things we've got to work on and learn the lessons now," he said.
"We're building. We've got a really young team. I think the fans would be happy with our effort and intensity."