I think many people expected the GWS Giants to embarrass themselves in their historic first match last night. Instead they did themselves proud.
With 17 first gamers and 14 teenagers in the side, expectations were not high. Only 2 of the 52 tipsters from The Age and the Herald Sun picked GWS to beat the Swans. They were the Kiss of Death and The Village Idiot.
But the lads from Blacktown (actually Breakfast Point) showed a manic intensity in the opening exchanges as well as slick skills to stay with the older Sydney enterprise. They trailed by just 17 points at quarter time and a not too shabby 31 points at half time.
Even when the Swans kicked 5 straight goals in the third term to lead at the break by 64 points, and a repeat of the Suns’ horrible debut was on the cards, it didn’t quite seem to reflect the state of play – although showing signs of fatigue, the Giants were still getting plenty of the ball but were made to pay for their errors and lack of key forwards by the skilled and efficient Swans.
In a promising display the Giants outscored the Swans in the last quarter by a point. Their tenacity was highlighted by a powerful tackle by Israel Folau on a hapless Dan Hanneberry who lost the ball and temporarily the use of his body.
So what could be said about the GWS Giants after their baptism of fire? One aspect of their play that stands out is the hardness at the ball which reflects the head of development Alan McConnell’s belief that “teams who win premierships win the contested ball”.
They must be careful that by replicating this physical style of play they don’t damn their young players’ bodies to premature chronic injury. Many youngsters have already emerged from the TAC Cup with osteits pubis and poor shoulders.
They’re a long way off a premiership but with the addition of the experienced Luke Power and Dean Brogan, the classy Tom Scully and the man mountain Jonathon Patton (who was seen dwarfing Matthew Richardson and Brian Taylor in the commentary box) they are going to give a few teams a torrid time of it.
It’s a shame, but not a surprise considering the conservative nature of AFL footballers, that a few more experienced players didn’t make the move to GWS. The fear of moving away from home, club loyalty and not wanting to play for a struggling venture, no doubt all played their part.
So how do we describe this historic night in western Sydney? The crowd of over 38,000 was a healthy one and the evening, with the help of the slightly chaotic but mirthful new Channel 7 commentary team, had a carnival atmosphere.
Hopefully some kids from rugby league households with bodies not suited to that game will have watched and had their interest piqued.
Or, perhaps some of them saw the lights on and wandered over to see what all the fuss was about – just like those Melburnians in 1998 who popped into Olympic Park to see the city’s new rugby league team play for the first time.
Finally, to the boys wearing the orange and charcoal (colours that go surprisingly well together), you did yourselves and western Sydney proud.
Tom of Darwin
Guest
Yeah sorry, can't help my feelings for Port to come out sounding a little bias ;)
JVGO
Guest
Well after 2 years of en masse trolling and abuse by AFL fans on League and Football threads you guys are suddenly sick of trolling? I thought you guys were so tough, especially you Redb. Truth is I only really ever post in response to spurious drivel that you guys write about the NRL and Sydney. Last week it was that NRL crowds are dangerous and unsafe, This week it's that because a team of Victorians wearing Orange only lost to a team of Victorians wearing red by a mere 68 points that the people of Western Sydney should for some reason feel proud. It goes on and on really. Western Sydney begins at Chippendale and goes all the way to Broken Hill, the Swans have 1.2 million fans, there are no RL fans in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney....the myths and idiocy that are peddled on these AFL threads regarding Sydney simply deserve to be mocked. But keep celebrating boys, despite the fact that by every indicator Sydney's interest in AFL has gone south quicker than even the decline in Waratah's crowds.
Macca
Guest
The Swans are no Carlton though are they! And the stats point to the loss flattering the GWS, 71 inside 50's for just 14 goals? And they had 30 scoring shots to 12. Plus as I said if the GWS plan to just roll numbers back and try to minimise the margin how are they going to actually win a game?
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
60 points is nothing. Carlton beat Richmond by 100, and Essendon by much more than 60 IN A FINAL! 10 goal losses happen. Clubs get over them.
Macca
Guest
Ian - Three possessions from 83% of game time and you are happy, Matty Lloyd was pretty emphatic in saying he isn't in their best 22 and said that both Folau & Cameron struggled in the key positions and they should throw whatever they had at Cloke. Also earlier in the year you tipped GWS to be competitive against the bracket of sides pushing for the finals, given the Swans are probably going to miss the finals shouldn't they have been more competitve?
stabpass
Guest
There was very little imterest in this game in WA, it was 2 Sydney teams with small, or non existant support bases in the west, the result was known way beforehand, it was on in the late afternoon on Saturday, The TV ratings and crowd, were about par IMO, secondary channel, saturday night, 2 Sydney teams, one with a small fan base, the Swans did not include this game in their membership, so they would have had to pay extra.
Macca
Guest
I have to agree with Titus, they lost by 10 goals, the Swans had 30 scoring shots to 12 and went insdie 50 71 times. People also have to remember that they were playing a side who will quite likely miss the 8 this year, if they had of played a Carlton like the Suns did last year the margin would of been 120 points the same as last year. Their 2 key forwards struggled, Reid had 19 possessions againsst Davis so how many will a Franklin or Cloke have? Yes they battled hard and gave it their all but the media seem to be contracted by the AFL to constantly talk them up. You also have to ask if the more defensive style when compared to the suns might shave a few goals off the margins each week but will it win them games?
Redb
Roar Guru
Here is a stat for you. $80,000 of Giants merchandise sold on the night. Paid tickets or freebies, fans liked what they saw. If anyone can argue that's a bad result for a new team and promotion I'd like to see it.
Redb
Roar Guru
I think the NRL would not be happy with the Storm's crowds, I could easily mount a counter argument that a team with a much longer time in Melbourne than GWS has had in Sydney is widely rejected based on low crowd figures in Melbourne.
Redb
Roar Guru
AC, I disagree the crowd was disappointing. You must set the bar pretty high for AFL and yet seem to contradict yourself when you say AFL is not as popular as 'we' think. If your saying the crowd is disappointing who exactly is setting the bar higher? TV ratings have never been great for AFL in Sydney, its a longer game than the market is use to and I think the general mood is go to the game rather than watch on TV. As I said elsewhere it was also a one sided game as expected, so its no surprise it did not hold good ratings for the whole 3 hours. The TV ratings in Melbourne were lower than usual as well, 1. due to one sided contest and 2. GWS hold less interest. I think the days of any AFL fan beleiving the game will overtake Sydney are long gone and no-one not even Demetriou sincerely beleives otherwise.
duecer
Guest
JVGO, all estimates were in the region of 35-40,000, so it appears they were spot on. Considering the Swans supporters reluctance to venture out west, you would have to say that was a good crowd. You have to remember it was 3 times the number of the Parramatta Penrith game, which was hyped up as well, and was on a good night. So the question may not be why wasn't the GWS crowd bigger, but why was the Parra / Penrith crowd so poor.
"Anyone wishing to pit their Toyota AFL Dream Team against mine then you are welcome to join my comp. Code is 680384. The more the merrier!" Welcome Cameron, David and Ben ! Still room for plenty more.
Australian Rules
Guest
I fail to see how a game (fielding a team of debutant kids) which attracted triple the number of people than the NRL's Western derby can be considered a failure. Considering Sydney-siders generally don't attend sport, I think it's a good result.
Fitzy
Guest
JVGO theres no point in arguing with you, you wont acknowlege other points of view, I went there with my family who live in Sydney (some of whom born and live in the west). I was there with 38000, with almost half GWS fans (they were mostly at the sth end). I noticed that the two NRL games got 17000 to St.George game and 13000 to Manly v Sths. So it appears your previous statements were ill informed and wrong, like most of your comments, as for my previous observations I suggested concerning you and a girl of plastic it was clearly a joke, however judging from ur referring to it, maybe you protest too much!
MFB1991
Guest
Quoting figures for anything relating to GWS is pointless after one game. In three months they may have some relevance, after three years they will be crucial. The way the AFL have gone about this is fraught with danger. The biggest thing they have in their favour is a huge bank balance. What they might find is that money will buy some loyalty some of the time but not total loyalty all of the time. Sydney is a fickle market, if at some point both Sydney AFL teams are in the bottom half of the ladder watch the interest fall flatter than a Jason Akermanis after dinner speech !
western sydney boy
Guest
Simple, cost of membership too high. Also home game schedule is all over the place which means individual tix become an easier option.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
well if you can read my response, you'll see the article link I took the information from. Google gets you so much information with very little effort.
peeeko
Roar Guru
i have to laugh at the trolls that criticise the AFL but i also laught at you and red b with your ready made statistics to rebuff them. where do you get all this info? its like you have a direct line to the AFL marketing department
peeeko
Roar Guru
i liked the article but i thought the headline was drawing a long bow
AC
Guest
The truth is the crowd was dissapointing. Iy had so much build up and hype. The tv ratings in the markets of sydney and brisbane very poor indeed also. The AFL is not as popular as the AFL types would like you think. Fact and thats okay its trying to build on that. But, the simple fact is that the Australia game is a great product. But the AFL types who try and manipulate the Sydney market are in for a shock.