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In just under three months’ time, the Greater Western Sydney Giants will take on the Sydney Swans in the opening game of the 2012 AFL season.
As much as AFL HQ would like to kick off the season with a great game between the new kids on the block and the perennial warhorses in the same backyard, the game its likely to be very one-sided affair even by half time.
The Gold Coast Suns were not afforded an opening game, and were forced to sit out the first round completely in 2011 with a bye. Yet the Suns at least had the formation of a competitive unit to start the club on the right foot.
In hindsight, the Suns were smashed in their first few AFL games, as the step up from VFL to AFL is massive in terms of pressure and the Suns’ list was just too thin.
The Suns, though, appear on paper to have been substantially stronger at the same stage as the Giants. The Giants have a younger and less experienced list than the Suns and no Garry Ablett to at least keep them in the game in the midfield.
They have Tom Scully, the apprentice, but he is not in the same league as the master Ablett. Injury prone and only in his second year, Scully is still green and cannot be expected to be the glue that holds the Giants’ midfield together.
A handful of almost retired players will be no substitute for the second-tier stars still in their prime like Nathan Bock and Campbell Brown of the Suns.
The cross-coder in Israel Folau may well turn out to be a more suited AFL player than Karmichael Hunt is for the Suns. Folau has taken to full forward like a fish to water, but must rely on ball delivery into the forward line first won in the midfield. His 2012 contribution is likely to be modest as a result.
The rest are kids, and of course their number one draft pick John Patton is in rehab in Sweden, not being considered as a starter for the opening game of the season.
As the Suns found out, it’s a long season, one that requires players with two or three preseasons under their belt to even survive the year, let alone wins games.
Given they have an inferior list to the Suns, will the Giants even win a game in 2012?
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