For all the talk about the new Greater Western Sydney AFL club, no one has really commented on the club’s potential to grow Australian football in a once foreign land.
Indeed the launch of the club name and jumper on Tuesday night was just the beginning. More is to come. No matter how anti-AFL you might be, this football club is not going to fall down and die in a few short years. The AFL has spent too much money, has worked too hard in such a short space of time to allow that to happen.
Indeed, the road will be tough. The club will struggle at times. But when it comes to the Greater Western Sydney Giants, there is more to it than just the first five or 10 years.
The club needs to gain a foothold in the area, connect with the community, and above all else, show off the wonderful game of Australian football to the young children, the future generation of Australian sport.
The AFL or GWS Giants FC are not interested in stealing supporters from rugby league or rival codes. It is not interested in killing off rival clubs or stealing a community from rugby league’s jaws.
The GWS Giants will appeal to the young, under 18 boys and girls, who for the first time, will have a real, genuine choice in regards to their preferred code.
The current, experienced crop of aging Australian sporting fans must realise that GWS are a club for the future, not for the present.
Rugby league die-hards and Daily Telegraph ‘journalists’ can tease the living daylights out of the AFL as much as they want, but the time for change is coming.
For too long Australian football has been caught, stuck in the ghosts of its Victorian, tribal past.
Now is the time when it truly broadens its wings and offers its product to a new crop of sporting fans, with a real choice to make. Some people ask why the supposed sporting capital of the world, Melbourne, is regarded as so.
AFL may have religion-like status in the southern capital, but the city’s diversity and embracement of other codes is evident, never more so than when the Melbourne Victory achieve the highest crowds in the A-League, when the Melbourne Storm average crowds similar to that of the suburban Sydney NRL club in a dead home and away season.
Here’s hoping that the people of Western Sydney can do something similar.
The GWS Giants are a club to be reckoned with. Australian football is a code that is set to take on its final frontier. Opposition from rival codes and a stifled media is not what will decide its fate. Only the people, and future participants in the Australian sporting scene will decide.
To plagiarise a famous quote from Neil Armstrong: “That’s one small step for Australia, one Giant leap for Australian football.”
mick h
Guest
how many of the swans membership is sydney based. south sydney will have 30,000 members by the time gws start playing. rl clubs bigger than the swans, gws are south sydney, st george -illawarra, parramatta canterbury- bankstown and wests tigers. all u afl supporters underestimate the strengh of rl
mick h
Guest
pay tv is nationally not just two states so people in other states must be watching. a tennis match finished in the top 5
mick h
Guest
dave it was the state knockout finals .each region plays a knockout competition with the winners proceeding to the finals in sydney. again i will say they had a record 4000 players.big deal about the ballymore cup the arrive alive cup in 2009 had over 500 teams compete.
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
A great article in the paper today on Israel Folau. I could have ended up in jail: Israel Folau. "At a young age I always wanted to play sport and I always wanted to play NRL. That was my biggest dream and it came true." This is part of the reason why Folau is now back in western Sydney. Not to turn his back on the code that saved him from a troubled life, rather to offer kids in the area another pathway to chase their dreams.The way Folau sees it, while rugby league has a tendency to discriminate against boys of certain sizes, crime does not. With the AFL putting another item on the sporting menu in western Sydney, perhaps a few more budding young athletes that wouldn't otherwise make it in rugby league will be rescued. Good luck to him. As I've pointed out before, he's got some cousins back in Tonga involved in Aust Footy in Tonga. Including captaining the Tongan U16 team and representing Tonga in the Pacific U16 team that played in the Aust u16 national champs this year. Their father back in Tonga is an AFL development officer. All these family links were happening before he and the AFL got together. Did that help build his position? Recognising that MORE options is GOOD. Similarly, in some Melbourne suburbs, there's a desperate need for more Rugby options. It's all good - no one or two sports can 'save the world' by themselves. Not even soccer!!!
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
Guess what - all AFL players were once upon a time amateur. Of the code switchers, there's been stuff all 'successes', let alone 'overnight'. Most the 'domestic' code switchers (eg basketball) have played footy along the way too. However, if AFL coaches couldn't convert an elite talented athlete familiar with basketball and soccer into a half decent footy player after 2 pre-seasons - - then, the coaches wouldn't deserve the title (or paypacket).
Kermit is a frog
Roar Pro
There's another edition of the Oceania Under 16s junior tournament in Tonga this time, in Dec 14-20. Following on the debut this year of the world and Pacific U16s (with a bit of 'flex') at the AFL U16 national champs - there's every chance that over the next 2 installments of the International Cup, that the standard will take a sharp upward curve with many more players getting exposed to the game around age 14-18. I can't wait to see how it goes this time around. The European contingent should be improved having got themselves organised with a European body - and run their first full side championships, whilst retaining the Euro 9s. New nations like Netherlands and Italy are hitting the ground running as they join this growing footy community - compared to painfully slow growth in the past. It's all quite exciting.
peeeko
Roar Guru
its interesting that the AFL is setting up GWS to move the game into the western suburbs of Sydney. Surely the swans have been trying to do that for the past 28 years? if your answer is that the swans are too far away from the west of sydney then why has GWS included Southern NSW and the ACT as part of its area? Why would someone from Southern NSW support a team based in West Sydney? they are playing 4 games a year in Canberra, is it a case of hedging their bets?
beaver fever
Guest
Yes, it appears some games will be held in Sydney, i imagine Blacktown will be a venue, womens division will be added. http://www.afl.com.au/international%20cup%202011/tabid/16892/default.aspx Slowly but surely the AFL is taking ithe international arm of Australian football seriously
hutch
Roar Guru
haha, international cup!!!
hutch
Roar Guru
haha, you need to change your name from sports writer to victorian sports writer if thats what you really think. nrl players range from 75kgs to 125kgs, saying they need to be heavy shows how ignorant you are. the fact is, amateur gaelic footballers, basketballers and canadian rugby union players have made it to the top in afl very quickly after converting, and 2 of the 3 highest players in afl history are rugby league players who will soon play the top grade despite never having played the gane as a junior. it is a simple sport with a limited skill set where good athletes can adapt to compete in the top grade!
djfrobinson
Guest
I looked at the report. A TV program showing at 10:30PM at night on prime tv isn't impressive. I will worry about your code when it manages to get on TV1 news at 6PM which it never does and probably never will. Beaver why is it AFL fans have this really big desire to push its code into New Zealand? AFL has bigger problems and does it really want to take on Rugby Union in New Zealand.
beaver fever
Guest
Elbusto said. 123 televisions is 600 viewers. Its still a small sample but is considered statistically viable. Interesting, do you have a link for that, are you saying every TV ratings houshold has 5 people in it ?.
beaver fever
Guest
Robc, there is not enough corporate or money in Canberra, the Raiders struggle for money and it costs a absolute truckload of cash less to run a RL team to a AFL team in comparison, this IMO is the main reason. They would probably draw crowds of around 15k, ... 20k if wining. I am not bitter at all, if it is to be , is is to be !!.
Rob C
Guest
So why haven't they.... It would not be a success as it is not popular enough that is why... Bitter pill to swallow hey?
Rob C
Guest
This article supports my views. The AFL will need to sell more and better quality games to improve its deal. It also shows that the AFL payed more because of a perceived return on investment from AFL which has not materialised (League is the highest rating sport on Pay TV). Given how old this article is I don't think it is reflective of the current situation and league will get more money than AFL for Pay TV in the next deal. It won't for FTA though. That is my honest opinion and reflects the standings on Pay TV between the two sports.
beaver fever
Guest
It was number 3 in the country for the week.
Ted Skinner
Guest
Well why wouldn't Think TV not have the game in its Top 40 List. Anyway the union was also on Pay TV & from memory it got over 200,000 on that medium. The Sydney component would have been 60,000 to 70,000 I would guess. It would give the BC game a total of about 220,000. What that means is that for every Sydneysider watching the AFL about seven were watching the NRL or union. That's a shellacking for the AFL which ever way you look at it.
elbusto
Guest
Elbusto 1 Beaver 0 - 123 televisions is 600 viewers. Its still a small sample but is considered statistically viable,
beaver fever
Guest
3 Ten’s AFL Finals 2010: 1st Semi Final Wb V Syd Ten 935,000 87,000 497,000 35,000 166,000 151,000 Ten’s AFL Finals 2010: 1st Semi Final Wb V Syd One 146,000 33,000 75,000 3,000 21,000 15,000 As usual, the Sydney media conveniently forgets to add up figures, Roy Masters is nortorious for it, this time it was the SMH.
beaver fever
Guest
Ted, did you remember to add in channel one's total of 146 k to your total, it appears it was not added in, try another 33k to you 87k in Sydney, i am standing by !. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/09/week-37-3.html