GWS set to have a Giant impact on Sydney’s West
They may have lost their debut match against the Swans, but the GWS Giants are asserting their presence both on and off the field. Daniel McBride reports.
GWS coach Kevin Sheedy addressing his side last Saturday during their debut match against the Sydney Swans. Source: Herald Sun
The Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants went down fighting in their local derby against Sydney Swans. The Swans were made to work for their 63-point victory in Saturday night’s season opener.
The young Giants showed tremendous endeavour and thirst for the contest, only letting their guards down for a chunk of the third quarter.
It was a far cry from last year’s Gold Coast debut in which the Suns were on the receiving end of a 119-point mauling from Carlton.
For a team with 17 debutants, the Giants showed tremendous courage and encouraging signs ahead of the AFL 2012 season.
Statistics show that every year, total attendance for the AFL is more than double the National Rugby League (NRL) and more than six times that of the A-league, according to theroar.com.au.
With the arrival of new expansion team the GWS Giants , the AFL is attempting to do the impossible; tackle the NRL’s heartland.
Having already won an impressive, pre season victory over the other new kids on the block, rivals Gold Coast Suns, the Giants prospects look brighter than many predicted.
Dual Geelong Cats premiership captain and general manager of AFL NSW/ACT Tom Harley says the timing of the new club could not be better. In an email response he stated:
“With a second team in Sydney now, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, there has never been a better time for people to come in contact with the game.”
Harley believes that a second team in Sydney will greatly boost promotional prospects for the AFL.
“A second team in Sydney means there will be double the school visits, double the content in Sydney and double the players and personnel promoting the game.”
The Giants have recruited well, acquiring veterans of the game to lead their young chargers in 2012. Some of the experienced heads include: Dean Brogan, Chad Cornes (both Port Adelaide Power premiership players), Setanta O Hailpin (ex Carlton Blues player) and Luke Power (three time Brisbane Lions premiership player).
They have also recruited some of the brightest young prospects in the game. Tom Scully (Melbourne Demons number one pick in the 2010 draft) and Jonathan Patton (2011 number one draft pick) are two players who have had huge wraps placed on them.
The most hyped recruit so far though has been that of high-profile rugby league convert Israel Folau, which serves as a testament that the AFL is quite literally winning over NRL stars and fans alike.
With a solid list and highly experienced head coach Kevin Sheedy at the helm, it seems that with time the Giants will become a force to be reckoned with.
Many people have doubted whether the GWS Giants would survive in Sydney, a city that traditionally favours other codes of football, such as rugby league, soccer and rugby union.
According to theroar.com.au website, the AFL averages almost 38,000 fans to each game, whereas the NRL only manages a poor 15,000 per game.
The target market for the AFL in Western Sydney is huge. Harley believes that failure isn’t on the cards, stating:
“There are almost 2 million people living in Western Sydney with a large proportion of these people never playing or watching AFL.”
With growing support at grass roots level, GWS’s future looks bright.
Yvonne Blackburn is the president of the Rooty Hill Power Junior AFL club. As a parent of three she prefers for her daughter and her two sons to play AFL over other sports, despite being a keen West Tigers supporter.
“I wasn’t really happy with the way other sports were run compared to AFL. My eldest is quite slender and I was worried about him playing against the much bigger boys.”
Blackburn says AFL provides a safer alternative. ”The AFL is a much safer sport and I love the atmosphere,” she said.
However, there is also scepticism as to the location and longevity of the GWS club. Hugh McDonnell, a passionate Manly Eagles supporter, believes that GWS will not last in Sydney.
“Sydney is too Rugby League dominated and GWS won’t be able to find a foothold in the market,” he said.
GWS has started a new chapter in AFL history and time will tell as to how well they fare in the hotly-contested Western Sydney market.
The statistics you use aren’t reliable. You talk about the average being 38000 but how much is it when you take out the Melbourne mad crowds? Brisbane, Port and even Sydney’s crowds are down in recent years. Not sure how a high crowd average for the league justifies that GWS will succeed in the market. Only yesterday 1 NRL team from western Sydney had a crowd of 22000 against a team from outside Sydney. There was a crowd of 38000 on Saturday for GWS, and with all the hype and build up is that a pass? Most of the members are from Canberra, how will the crowd be oons cold Saturday night against Melbourne in Blacktown?
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JM Reply:
April 8th, 2012 at 12:08 am
It remains to be seen whether they’ll get the crowds, but they AFL/Giants have scheduled well:
* Only 1 game in Blacktown and it’s next Sunday at 1pm v West Coast Eagles … doesn’t get too cold mid-April.
* Of the 2 remaining night games – one is v Essendon (usually a big draw in Sydney) and the other is the Swans home game.
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Sorry Matt but Daniel McBride’s statistics are correct. In 2011 Sydney Swans average 26, 615 while in the same year Panthers- 12,477 , eels 15,006 and tigers 17,852. You are correct in that attendance for the swans has decreased however this is due to the weather with many games being washed out. These statistics indicate that the NRL are not committed in increasing its attendance where as the AFL are. The AFL are smart enough to recognise that GWS is a work in progress and are looking toward the future unlike the NRL who are too busy bickering with each other causing a divided front. Everyone knows that war requires both strategic planning and money. NRL don’t have either of these things.
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You don’t seem to comment on any of the other points I made in the comment, instead all you seem to do is take potshots at the NRL. How exactly do your statistics prove that “the NRL are not committed in increasing its attendance where as the AFL are?” That is an amazingly general comment if I’ve ever heard one. Last week the NRL passed the 200,000 member mark through huge membership drives, so far this round we’ve seen crowds of 35,000 at Homebush, 25,000 in Newcastle and 18,000 at Allianz Stadium.
“Unlike the NRL who are too busy bickering with each other causing a divided front.” I’m sorry but would you care to elaborate? I agree with you that GWS is a work in progress, but so are Gold Coast and look at their crowd for round 1 last weekend after a full season in the AFL. Sydney is a tough market to crack, and will the fans remain when the team is going to be beaten by 100 points each week for the next 2-3 seasons?
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Bugger I forgot to mention the 21500 sold out crowd in Cronulla on Saturday night. The first time Shark Park has been sold out in 8 years. They musn’t be doing anything right down there. You can’t use the excuse that Swans crowds have dropped due to wet weather, when the same would apply to all sports in Sydney. By that reasoning I could say this NRL season would have the highest gate takings of any year if it wasn’t for the heavy rain in round 1. For the record actually if Manly vs Penrith gets over 16000 tonight (heading towards a sell out) then the crowd aggregate after six rounds goes past last year’s nunbers.
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