Round 7 was not kind to the GWS Giants, suffering a 135-point demolishing at the hands of a ruthless Adelaide Crows outfit.
To rub salt into the wound, the game was played in front of a paltry crowd of just 5830 people at Skoda Stadium.
It would be easy to dig the heels when the Giants are down, but fans need to take a step back to find some perspective on the situation.
Firstly, the team has improved on the field compared with last season. They are averaging 80 points per game this season, more than Melbourne, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane.
The Giants are playing a more attacking brand of football and, while it does not always come off, they have become better to watch. Last year they averaged just 58 points.
The downside of a more attacking game plan is that the Giants inevitably give up more goals. Opposition sides are averaging 140 points per game against the Giants this season, up from 125 points in 2012. The Giants coaching staff will need to find the right balance between attacking and defensive play.
The match against Adelaide was ugly by any measure; a desperate opponent combined with a young team who faced a tough interstate match the week before was the perfect storm for a one-sided affair.
Treating that match as an outlier, which is reasonable based on the first six games this season, the Giants had a percentage of 64.4 per cent heading into the Adelaide match. By comparison, they had a percentage of 46.2 per cent last year (and only 42.2 per cent over the first six games).
Some fans may choose to disregard that, after all a percentage of 64 per cent is still pretty terrible, but to do so would miss the fact that it still represents a noticeable improvement.
In the first few seasons for the Giants and Gold Coast Suns, percentage will arguably be a better indicator of improvement than wins or losses. That might seem counterintuitive because for most fans we only care about wins, but these are not normal teams and percentage is usually the best measure of overall competitiveness.
The Giants improvement is also broadly consistent with the Suns experience last season. Though for the Suns most of the improvement was made on the defensive side, since the actually scored fewer points than in their debut season.
Time will tell whether the Adelaide game was unusual or becomes the norm. But for now the Giants have improved and are tracking fairly similar to the Suns who, in their third season, sit just one game outside the eight.
Secondly, the team was right to choose rookies rather than experienced players.
Many argue that the Giants would be better served by drafting or trading for more experienced players rather than playing a team largely comprised of teenagers. I agree that they would have been better in the short-term but it would have come at the expense of any long-term success.
What these analysts suggest is that the Giants should have followed the Fremantle strategy of expansion. The Dockers entered the 1995 season with a team that had a few youngsters but a lot of rejected players and state league players.
It allowed the Dockers to win eight games in their first season, but they had to wait until 2003 before making the top eight. If given the opportunity I suspect most Dockers supporters would prefer a few winless seasons if it meant they were challenging for the flag in 2000.
Despite what some analysts believe, there was no possible way for GWS to put together a competitive team in their first season. The league is too professional now and the talent in the second-tier competitions is not as high as when West Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Fremantle and Port Adelaide entered the competition.
It takes years to develop a squad that can play together consistently and maintain their defensive and offensive structures. While in a more professional league there are fewer upsets and opportunities for the best sides to have an off day. Consequently, it was never going to happen in one season, regardless of how many rejected players they could obtain.
Furthermore, the Giants approach will likely prove to be more successful in the long-run than the approach taken by the Suns. A quick comparison of each team’s first two seasons indicates that there is very little difference between the two teams, which is important because the Suns performances have been supported by arguably the best player in the game.
The Suns older players such as Gary Ablett Jnr and Nathan Bock will be a mere shadow of their former selves by the time the Suns are ready to compete for a flag. By comparison, Giants players such as Callan Ward, Tom Scully and Phil Davis will be in the middle of their prime when the Giants are ready.
As football analysts and fans we tend to overreact to any new piece of information. A good game by the Giants means that they doing great, while a poor performance indicates that they are hopeless and the sky is falling down.
The reality is that neither view is correct. The Giants are developing at a similar pace to the Suns last season. As a young team their form fluctuates widely, which is entirely expected. The Suns received a lot of attention over their poor performances last season, which now look fairly silly in hindsight. We should heed these lessons and not make the same mistakes again.
The AFL viewed GWS as a 30-year project and it simply does not make sense to judge the experiment on a week-to-week basis. While many doubt that the Giants can establish themselves in western Sydney, I see Western Sydney as an untapped area where most people follow no sport.
In my opinion, all codes can develop, flourish and co-inhabit the Western Sydney area and I hope they do.
Callam P
Roar Pro
I lived in Sydney for five years up to the beginning of 2013. So I feel perfectly able to comment on the Sydney sporting scene. I never said that the war mentality didn't exist. It certainly does. I said that it was pretty silly when you think about it. And it is certainly that too. All of the available data on television audiences and crowd numbers suggest that most people in the Western Sydney area do not support any of the available sporting organisations, including GWS. The area is huge but none of the teams are phenomenally popular. There is plenty of scope for all teams to improve their standing in the region and there is no reason why GWS should be precluded from that. The idea that GWS can only succeed at the expense of another code is completely at odds with the reality of the region.
Jax
Guest
AFL does not want to be the ONLY sport in Western Sydney. If it was offered that mantle I'm sure they'd take it but that's not realistic and everyone knows that. The only people that think that are paranoid/delusional fans of other codes.
Allan
Guest
The war mentality exists and if you are from interstate and haven't seen it then its another reason as to why you don't understand the area. You must also be from interstate if you haven't noticed how the whole region went crazy for the wanderers, and don't try tell me it's because they were on a winning streak / standby for the true test when the slump comes etc etc. I also don't accept & don't believe for a second the AFL or its fans simply want to coexist - the AFL has never worked on the 'we can all flourish together' mentality, the AFL wants to be the only sport in Western Sydney and anything less is unacceptable. AFL didnt work here, fair enough there's at least one part of Australia that didnt want it - lucky for the Giants that Canberra has warmed to the team so the best decision would be to relocate and grow the team down there.
dazman
Guest
"I see western Sydney as an untapped area where most people follow no sport". I'm sorry, but that statement couldn't have been more incorrect. Between the West Sydney Wanderers and practically half of the NRL clubs, the people there follow plenty of sport. If anything GWS will really struggle to break into the market, and whether you like it or not, Sheedy's comments about the Immigration Department aren't gonna help.
Jack
Guest
Awesome article. I too think Giants are being stepped on a bit too hard. Those stats are proof that improvement has been happening. I am a Swans supporter, and like those in SA, WA and Qld can probably say, they want both their clubs to do well, but when it comes to derby day, your team matters and thats final.
Callam P
Roar Pro
You would have to try pretty hard to find that insulting. It takes only a brief view of crowd sizes and television audiences to recognise that a majority of people in Western Sydney do not follow the NRL or A-League. But before you find that insulting, the same is also true of the AFL in Melbourne. I cannot think of a VFL/AFL or NRL game that was watched by half of the audience in their heartland, even GFs and SoO do not come close - and they are treated more as events which increases their audience. While we might like to think that everyone cares about the major sporting codes the fact is that they do not. And that's precisely the reason why I believe that all codes can exist and flourish within the Western Sydney area. One sport gaining a supporter does not mean that another sport is losing a supporter and the war mentality of some people in NSW is pretty silly when you think about it.
Jimbo
Guest
The touring British rugby team also played a game of Australasian rules against a NZ team during their tour of NZ, it actually may have been in Wellington. Australasian rules was the official name of the game ( Australian football) till around 1900.
Jimbo
Guest
From memory ( not personally :) ) the touring British team also played a game of football ( Australian rules) against a NZ representative team as well during that tour, although at that stage the official name for the game was Australasian football.
Tax but no rep
Guest
Jax Apologies I reread your comment in context but was unable to edit it and withdraw it before publication...so tragically it remains on the site
Tax but no rep
Guest
Jax, That comment is ludicrous and doesnt make sense...They? only spend money because there is money to be made - isnt that business - noone is arguing what is the better game just that one game has a more national audience across a wider demographic...
Tax but no rep
Guest
So you have done your own survey of 4m people then....
Jax
Guest
They only spend that money because there is money to be made as NRL is the game of choice in NSW and all AFL fans know that, that doesn't mean it's a better game!
Jax
Guest
What problems? You think the AFL don't know that this will take 30-60 years?
Jax
Guest
Who ever said that hundreds of thousands will flock to AFL games in NSW and who gives a damn about Folau? If you think that the AFL's multi-hundred million dollar investment in GWS over the next 30 years was contingent on those two myths they would be stupid for even trying, and they are not stupid! They don't want to take over the NRL either so stop with the paranoia.
Jax
Guest
Who cares? AFL is in great shape with or without GWS but irrespective the AFL will develop a sustainable grass roots base over time, it may take 1-2 generations but the AFL has already committed the money to ensure that happens so I am extremely confidemt that they will make it in the long run.
Allan
Guest
Rather insulting the author thinks we follow no sport, but its a great insight into the mind of an AFL fan who saw my home and thought 'these people will flock to our game in the hundreds of thousands'. Times are pretty tough for the Giants aren't they and I've got news, they will never get any better. You can look back at the smug gloating when Israel Folau was signed as the Giants' peak.
Allan
Guest
If you think that mystical survey somehow means you have about 400,000 AFL fans in Sydney I'm sorry to have to break the news you'd have about 1/10th of that and dropping,
Nomenclature
Guest
Only an NRL official could come up with a list like this. I am talking about jersey coverage in a national game. Jeep, Renault, Hyundai,Ford, Opel and Kia are jersey sponsors in the AFL Toyota premiership so more visible, Kaspersky used to be (and was bought here by the Demons Footy club so Manly can thank them) - Hisense is no longer a jersey sponsor in the NRL, Huawei (spelt correctly) was going with the Brumbies before the federal Govt warned them off - that raiders decision may come back to bite them - formerly sponsored by the canberra tradies Club!!!! These maybe/were sponsors but they are not major sponsors. Coke sponsors them all but is not particularly visible..Tiger Air - are you serious? I'll grant you Vodafone but given their precarious position in Australia I wouldnt boast about it. Crown Casino is the Storm major sponsor (owed Murdoch a favour) and Suzuki a minor one who didnt step up in 2010 when the Storm salary capped and flopped!!! Oak Milk/Pirtek for example arent what I call Big League though I give you Jayco/Jaycar for targeted marketing.. As for the RL World Cup - only this morning Fijian descent players are discussing whether to play for Australia or Fiji as they can change allegiance betwen World Cups once? What - more flags of convenience!!. Why not bring back Tonie Carroll who played for RL Australia, then NZ and then Australia again...The RL WC held in Northern England between teams whose players are based in NSW/Qld, West Auckland and 2 counties in England...Stupenduous!!! Compare this to the Russian team in the RWC where there were 14 Russian citizens and one Aussie of Russian descent who is now ineligible for Australia...RL always on the cusp of grabbing hold of the pl,anet - this hyperbole drives people away....Perhaps the RL powers could wine and dine with Oak milk and Chateau de Wagga Wagga.
Matt_S
Guest
Some multinational companies sponsoring NRL clubs include Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Hyundai, De'Longhi, Kenwood, Tiger Air, Huwei, Coke, Sonic, Kaspersky, Suzuki, Changhong, Opel, Isuzu, Vodafone, Minolta, Kumho, Hisense etc. these feature on player jerseys, short sponsorship. Not bad and this will grow now the NRL has a huge budget to wine & dine, grow the game and a more prestigious world cup as a window to the game back here in Oz.
Nomenclature
Guest
Col Quinn (wherever you are) I was wrong and the VFL were right. The touring British Isles team didnt play rugby rules in the southern States so your beef is blown British Tours to Australia (1888-1914) Australian rules football was played by a British representative rugby team which toured Australia in 1888. The team arrived in Hobart, Tasmania on 18 April.[2] They attended a social function with the Southern Tasmanian Football Association, before going to New Zealand for a series of rugby matches. After they returned to Australia they again trained in Australian rules in Sydney, before leaving for Victoria in mid-June. The tour included 19 matches. They played against several of the stronger football clubs from Melbourne including the Carlton Football Club, South Melbourne Football Club, Essendon Football Club, Fitzroy Football Club and Port Melbourne Football Club. Additionally, they played against some strong regional Victorian clubs including two teams from Ballarat, the Ballarat Football Club and Ballarat Imperials, as well as two teams from Bendigo (Bendigo Football Club and Sandhurst Football Club) as well as playing against the Castlemaine Football Club, Maryborough Football Club (of Maryborough, Victoria), Horsham Football Club (of Horsham, Victoria) and Kyneton Football Club (of Kyneton, Victoria). The team also played against several of the stronger South Australian teams including South Adelaide Football Club, Port Adelaide Football Club, Adelaide Football Club (no connection to the later Adelaide club), Norwood Football Club. The only club from outside of Victoria or South Australia which played against them was the Maitland Football Club (from the Hunter Region in New South Wales). The British team won six matches, including a win over Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on 10 July 1888, and drew one. The reigning Victorian premiers, Carlton defeated Great Britain at the MCG 14.17 to 3.8. At this stage goals and points were recorded but only goals counted in the score; for example, when Great Britain played Castlemaine under very heavy conditions they kicked 1 goal 2 points and the locals kicked 1 goal 4 points, but the match was declared a draw. Great Britain also played 35 games of rugby, making a total of 54 games in 21 weeks. A star of the team's Australian rules games was Andrew Stoddart, who captained the team for part of its tour and also captained England in cricket.