In this world of newborn clubs, there is something slightly more ominous about the Greater Western Sydney Giants than their older sibling Gold Coast Suns, and for that we can thank Kevin Sheedy being at the helm.
The AFL’s appointment of Sheedy as inaugural coach of the Giants is a masterstroke. The AFL’s appointment of Sheedy as inaugural coach of the Giants is a masterstroke.
That he has already riled enough people internally and externally of the Australian Football League to regularly make front page news (in Sydney) makes his appointment a success already.
The contempt building for the Giants from fans of clubs whose players are targets and from fans of rugby league for daring to pinch players, suggests they can make a statement in the heartland and that they have built an identity for a club that had none.
Having a culture is what is important for a football club and if the rest of the country is ganging up on Western Sydney – both the club and the location, as Eddie McGuire alluded to on his radio program this week – then this might help the locals of that region get behind their team and area by supporting the club.
Which uncontracted players move to Sydney will be interesting, but the feeling is that the buying power in terms of dollars is more than what the Gold Coast offered, and the targeted players are of no less pedigree than Gary Ablett was before he took the money and the challenge of moving north.
Melbourne’s second year player and former number one draft pick Tom Scully will most likely stay at his club, but uncertainty looms over the targeted big three at Collingwood.
Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas have all been identified targets by Sheedy and it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of them depart at the end of this year.
Collingwood is in a slightly different position to that of Melbourne.
The players have played in a premiership and may win another this year, so that box is ticked. The money will no doubt be attractive and despite the media’s dismissal last year of Ablett identifying the challenge as an attraction, there is merit in a gun player wanting the challenge to be involved in a start-up club.
Despite this though, the telling possibility for one of these players to sign with the Giants is at the end of this year Mick Malthouse will no longer be coaching the Magpies.
The three mentioned targets all played with their future coach Nathan Buckley and their relationships with him might determine if they stay or not. It is an unusual one.
The players love Malthouse, know his game plan and will in many ways start again under Buckley.
If players are to re-adjust to a new coach and new game plan why not do it with double the money and the captaincy of a new club in your back pocket as well. Beware for the swooping Magpie, sorry Giant, in the early weeks of October.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
Slightly more on-topic, but yeah the Giants are builting thir own academy, based in Canberra I believe..
p.Tah
Guest
I don't know Koops, and yes expat isn't the correct term... But you get the gist :) For the record I have a work college who loves AFL so there is plenty of interest at my work... As well NRL and Union.
GrecoGuy
Guest
Good God. I work in the CBD. I don't think I've ever heard anybody discuss AFL. Not once. Only RL, RU or EPL.
Republican
Guest
No I think this is overstated, i.e is that very tired old chestnut that Aust footy is only a Vic game. I mean if thats your line of debate then League and Union only exist only on the back of their Albion heritage. The Australian game is virtually ubiquitous to this country with some exceptions in enclaves i.e. GWS that obviously favour League or Soccer. The code may not be the number one code across all Australian demos either however, it is well represented and integral to our sporting culture, certainly much more so than either rugby code pretends to be.. Union is however supported by true ex pats, especially in respect of Melbourne's Rebels and Storm and the Perths Force. If not for the huge Kiwi diaspora and to a lesser degree the Saffa one in Perth, Union would hardly have a profile worth mentioning let alone at the elite level in those demographics.
db swannie
Guest
Certainly...if you live in QLD OR NSW & a Southerner moves up here ,then yes .they are. They come from a completely different sporting culture,& when they find out you have no interest in AFL they try to convert you with a zealousness that religious nutters would be envious of. Thhey are different people,probably due to the AFL brainwashing from birth.Not better or worse ..just very different.
Nathan
Guest
It is lovely, worth a visit! (fyi: Western Force gets a bit of coverage over here but everything I've heard about the WA Reds possibly reentering the competition is stuff I've had to go hoofing for myself. Rugby shows up a lot in Sports Tonight, but as for FTA, almost nothing, whereas you'll usually get ~5 AFL matches per weekend, its a bit of a shame.)
Koops
Guest
So someone moving from Wodonga to Albury, would be a ex-pat !!??, can you be a ex-pat in your own country.
p.Tah
Guest
That's because you work at the Hornsby branch of the Victorian ex-pats association ;)
Guido
Guest
Around the office at work (Hornsby), there's a lot more AFL monday morning water cooler talk about AFL than NRL... Just sayin.....
mds1970
Roar Guru
The rumour mill tells me it's virtually locked in that Essendon will be GWS's opponent at ANZ for the opening round next season.
Neotraveler
Roar Rookie
Dare say the AFL doesn't expect to see the AFL-haters at GWS games, and a grass-roots program will give birth to a next generation of kids that don't have that backward mentality - they'll be Aussie Rules fans AND Rugby fans. What's the harm in that??
betamax
Roar Guru
Well Koops, I'm sure if you lived in Sydney at some time in the past you would have gathered that a great deal of the general public have little or no interest in AFL. In some cases this mild indifference has evolved to dislike(at least of GWS and GC Suns) thanks to the aggressive marketing tactics of the AFL machine. I'm not anti-AFL by any definition, but I'm anti the tactics they are using to promote the game in GWS and the GC. This Sheedy/MacGuire "argument" thing was another example of the AFL playing the people of Sydney for fools.
Koops
Guest
I have lived in Canberra, Sydney , Melbourne and a few places in between including country NSW, i have a interest in sport in general, and the strengths and weaknesses of different codes in different areas. I have also played footy in Canberra and Sydney to a decent standard, and whilst serving in the forces have played footy in Darwin and PNG amongst other places. Like most other people i have relations in all parts of this big wide country, and like most people i have conversations, feedback etc with them about many things including sport etc.
betamax
Roar Guru
Koops : "take no notice of ther egulars on this website,they represent a small although very vocal minority in Sydney, but they move in ever decreasing small circles." I dare say making statements like this while happily ensconced in Perth(is that where your from?) and reading nothing but AFL websites must be quite easy. If you'd care to fly over at some stage I think you'll find the reality to be different from the reality skewing opinion you have formed. Notice how I'm not commenting on the potential expansion of an NRL team in WA. Largely because I know nothing about WA or the people from there. I hear it's lovely though....
slickwilly
Guest
rebels will succeed sheek - there is a market for the game here in melbourne - a market i suspect exceeds that for the storm by a large margin based around the games presence with the gps school sports system wish the club all the best - i'll be following their fortunes with great interest
Koops
Guest
Plenty of general sports lovers in Sydney, take no notice of ther egulars on this website, they represent a small although very vocal minority in Sydney, but they move in ever decreasing small circles. The biggest step IMO in Sydney in many years is the Swans academy, which will draw around 720 boys across northern Sydney and northern NSW, if GWS was never created would this have ever happened ?, if GWS has something similar and they are planning it, drawing boys from southern/western Sydney, ACT and the riverina, they will have a very supply of footballers coming through. http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/philosophy/tabid/16982/default.aspx GWS will be OK IMO, grass roots football is growing in western Sydney, and a growing culture and acceptance, another Plugger would be good though, make it a hell of a lot easier.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
"The contempt building for the Giants from fans of clubs whose players are targets and from fans of rugby league" Far from a masterstroke, that is a very real problem for GWS. In the early years they will be relying on those few RL fans who are prepared to look at other codes as well. The Eels fan whose team played Friday night and is willing to watch the Giants on Sunday, and the Penrith fan in a similar situation, or who doesn't have Fox and gives the other team, run when their side plays interstate. The genuine haters of Australian Football won't be enticed no matter what, but the general sports lover are the ones GWS have to target - not to displace RL, but to share some of the supporters. GWS really can not afford to alienate these people, and that is exactly what have done with Falou, and with deciding to play games in Canberra. GWS will eventually work with a niche market forming, but some the decisions made so far are likely to make the road to acceptance in Sydney's west harder and longer.
TW
Guest
GWS will be starting from scratch in their Sydney based zone. Any estimates of crowds at this stage at their home matches are pure speculation despite Kevin Sheedys best efforts. They will get a ready made support base in Canberra for their matches there. However Kevin Sheedys comments about pinching players from the Magpies and Eddies reply are all orchestrated to get publicity. Just remember GWS are planning 10 years ahead minimum and are focusing on the kids (6 year olds who will be 16 yrs old in 2021) who of course have to grow up and become supporters. Be prepared for some small home crowds from 2012 if they are losing because it is not yet proven that non Swans AFL fans will flock to their Showgrounds games especially from the much touted Hills District. GWS is a long term AFL venture that has been in the making since 2004. Any other thinking is flawed by the critics - If GWS has failed by 2021 only then will the non AFL community on here be correct
damos_x
Guest
It will be a clash pumped up by the media & AFL regardless of where they sit on the ladder at the time & the psych will start long before the fixture. Hopefully the Giants will be up & running well enough to make the game a cracker & so begins a new rivalry which only incites more interest in the game & hence why Sheedy is so crucial to GWS I suppose. They will need more than just cross town rivalry to generate interest & the Bombers are a ready made foe for the new boys.
Jason Cave
Guest
When the premiership fixture for 2012 is released, jot down the day that GWS plays against Essendon. Because not only will Kevin Sheedy go up against his captain from the 2000 premiership team at Essendon, James Hird, but also he will have a point to prove to the off-field leadership at Essendon, considering the way he was dumped by the club in 2007.