- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Give credit where credit is due. Whatever your thoughts are about Kevin Sheedy’s final season at Greater Western Sydney, one thing which cannot be questioned and should be loudly applauded: his ability to sell his product.
My plan for this column was simple this week. It virtually wrote itself.
We have two crackerjack games to talk about, each with intriguing sidelights.
Essendon versus Geelong. The competition’s only two undefeated teams after six rounds, with top rung of the ladder the prize for the victor.
Ironically, it’s the Bombers’ best start since 2000 when coached by Sheedy to win the flag. Geelong will look to continue their dominance over Essendon, having won seven of the eight clashes since 2006.
Add to that the off-field ASADA dramas at Windy Hill, and there is plenty of reason to want to talk about this contest.
Then there was the ‘other match’, the grand final rematch between the Swans and Hawthorn. Both clubs have solid 5-1 starts, and while the one which counted was back in September last year, both clubs would still love the edge of getting this one over their rival.
Add to this the Buddy story. Swan Ted Richards has a great recent record against Lance Franklin, holding the best forward in the game to three goals in the grand final, four in Round 22, and goalless in their 2012 Round 5 clash.
But wait, Buddy is kind of in a slump. He hasn’t kicked a goal in his past two games.
The only other time that has happened in his career was in his first season when he went goalless against Carlton and West Coast in rounds six and seven.
In Sheedy’s column on Wednesday in The Daily Telegraph, he declared that the AFL needs a third team in Sydney.
He did follow it with a question: “Think it’s crazy?” Yes Kevin, I do.
I like your enthusiasm, and you want to grow the game around the globe, not only in Sydney, but ‘another’ team in Sydney? Surely we should take a little time and see how things pan out over the next decade or so with your team first?
According to the Giants’ coach the AFL should be looking at a Southern Sydney team, and “need to be just as brave as they were with the Giants, when they made a $200 million investment in western Sydney.”
I can imagine there are a few struggling Melbourne clubs who would be keen to have a slice of $200 million if the AFL has some spare change lying around.
Sheedy has always argued there should have been a team in Sydney’s west, and says “we can’t make that mistake again,” adding the AFL should be planning now for another Sydney team in the next 15 years.
It took a long, long time for the Swans to find their niche in Sydney.
It took a long time for them to feel secure in Sydney.
Sure now they have a large fan-base, great membership numbers, and get good home crowds. And so they should, they are the reigning premiers, but even the Swans realise how difficult the Sydney market is, and what’s needed to maintain their following.
And, knowing how hard the battle is, it wasn’t simply insecurity being the reason why many at the club felt there shouldn’t be a second team in Sydney.
Now a third?
There is no arguing the Giants have achieved a lot since arriving.
Skoda Stadium, superb new training facilities at Sydney Olympic Park, average home crowds at Skoda of 8,117 in their opening season and good membership numbers.
While Sheedy does note the Giants have 12,000 members in 2013, “more than Wests Tigers, Cronulla, Manly and Penrith,” a fair slice of those are based outside of Sydney.
He says the club will be “on its feet and firing in five to 10 years”, and they will, but the Swans too were firing five years after they arrived, reaching the finals in successive seasons.
But when things swung five years later, they were on the nose again in Sydney and often there seemed to be more on the field than in the stands.
It’s true as Sheedy points out, the population will have surged “by 2030” in Sydney.
Who knows what the sporting the landscape will be like.
The grand final may be played in Sydney by then, there could be just five Melbourne teams, one in New Zealand, two in Tasmania, one in North Queensland, and one in the Northern Territory.
Who knows? There may even be a Southern Sydney Swamp Rats club too.
Sheedy says the AFL needs a third team in Sydney. The question is, does Sydney need a third AFL team in Sydney?
There are more important things and areas for the AFL to worry about – particularly when it comes to expansion – and like the city did with the Swans, let’s take our time and let the Giants grow on us first, rather than trying to force feed something.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.