With yesterday’s news Andrew Demetriou will be stepping down from his post as CEO of the AFL, thoughts immediately turned to what his legacy will be.
While many have declared the Essendon drug saga as the incident from which his reputation will never completely recover, there can be no doubt the long-term position of the game in New South Wales, and particularly Greater Western Sydney, is what he will be judged upon a decade or more from now.
If successful, Demetriou will be hailed a bold and innovative visionary, fearless in implementing his minority view.
Failure will see him labelled an arrogant and foolhardy buffoon, drunk on his own power and unable to see beyond his own hubris.
No AFL favour has been spared to establish the Giants as a football stronghold for the western Sydney region, an enormous task that became harder still with the stunning success of the A-League Wanderers storming their way to the top of the ladder and all the way to a grand final in their inaugural 2012/13 season.
The Wanderers’ fans established themselves as one of the most fervent supporter bases from any code and were one of the stories of the Australian sporting year, their passion stemming from an organic base that organisers of the Big Bash League, for instance, couldn’t trust that fans would provide, and instead had to crassly manufacture.
All the while, GWS were embarrassing themselves and the game, making a mockery of the AFL as a ‘competition’ whenever they crossed the white line.
While the Wanderers played their matches in front of a heaving, thriving, singing and chanting stadium, the Giants were playing in front of a couple of pie-boys and a TV audience consisting largely of me and whoever was blogging the game for The Roar.
No-one could confidently predict what GWS will look like as a football team three, five or ten years from now, and Nostradamus himself wouldn’t dare pontificate about the sort of membership base or following they’ll have at the end of that period, or hazard a guess at the money spent on them in the meantime.
But what will the Giants look like this year? Can they lift themselves from the bottom of the ladder?
More importantly, can they stand up for themselves on a weekly basis on the field, and not just be an English batsman to the rest of the competition’s Mitch Johnson?
GWS will forever be compared to and rated against the Gold Coast Suns. It’s as inevitable as Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal or Coke versus Pepsi.
So far, the traffic has been extremely one-way.
After two completed seasons, Gold Coast had won six games and had a combined percentage of 58.4%. GWS have won three and have a percentage of 48.7%.
The Suns averaged one goal more a game, and conceded two goals fewer over those initial 44 matches.
While Gold Coast have had a certain Gary Ablett leading their team and producing some of the best individual football ever played, the Giants, and this is just a gut feel, have benefitted more from sides resting players or taking it easy against them.
The Suns’ third season was the first time they looked like a legitimate football team from the outset, and were no longer to be judged as just an expansion side. Unfortunately, the Giants will still be looked upon that way until they can prove otherwise.
Gold Coast won eight matches last year, and finished 14th, with a very respectable percentage of 91.73%. GWS simply won’t be achieving that, or anything close to it.
The procuring of Heath Shaw, Shane Mumford and Josh Hunt will stiffen them up, and the added bonus of extracting young Jed Lamb from the Sydney Swans was a nice touch as well. Even if they had to drastically overpay to get the first two, using money which had been reserved for Lance Franklin, it was a stand that needed to be taken to gain legitimacy.
Players like Rhys Palmer, Stephen Gilham and Dylan Addison have gone from fringe players at their original clubs to fringe players at the Giants, but when guys like this aren’t getting a regular game, it at least means the best 22 is getting stronger, and there are some ready-made AFL footballers to call on for depth.
Callan Ward and Jeremy Cameron are genuine stars already, and hopefully the much-vaunted forward triumvirate of Cameron, Jonathon Patton and Tom Boyd gel in the way people hope and expect.
The best friend of GWS this year may well be St Kilda. There always seems to be a basket-case, and this year it will likely be the hapless Saints.
It’s hard to see Melbourne losing to St Kilda in Round 1, with the former showing marked improvement in the NAB Challenge under Paul Roos, and the latter showing few signs they’re in for anything but a long year.
The Giants and Saints will clash in Round 2 in what will be an early indicator of which club has the inside running for the wooden spoon. It’s a horrible position to be in for a team that played in a grand final just four seasons ago.
GWS only play one of last year’s top eight from Rounds 2 to 9, so they will get their chance to avoid being blown away.
Andrew Demetriou will be taking his victory lap during 2014, having overseen the game becoming if not the number one sport in the country, then certainly the dominant football code.
He’ll be keeping more than one eye on the progress of the Giants this season, and hoping against hope they can prove their detractors wrong and finally have some meaningful impact on the AFL.
If not, he’ll be leaving with his pet project still a black mark on the game.
Daryl Adair
Guest
Most of these attempts to compare are flimsy. However, one thing that many people forget is that until just 3-4 years ago there were only a handful of NRL clubs in Western Sydney. Now there is an Association Football club - the Wanderers - and an Australian Rules football club - the Giants. These are BOTH positives for this region. Let's have some discussion about the benefits of this expansion.
duecer
Guest
JAJI - you're wrong there - the NZ Herald covered the story, albeit not on the front or back page - and why bring up AD's Greek heritage - was it meant to make him lesser somehow? Have to disagree with Jorji - Soccer is increasing in popularity in Sydney, so will be even stronger in 30 years, even if the A league changes its name.
hoopster
Guest
Yes i do, GPS, CAS and ISA schools. Your mates seem pretty upset. http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/threads/the-beginning-of-the-end-afl-has-stormed-the-ramparts.12041/
Simmo
Guest
Yeah, there's only 1 GPS school there. Riverview. I honestly think you don't understand what we're talking about
Titus
Guest
Hoopster, from what I imagine, Melbourne Private schools have Australian and Association football and maybe a little Rugby and Sydney Private schools have Rugby, Association and a little Australian and Rugby League. You tell me where the difference is.
hoopster
Guest
http://www.aflnswact.com.au/index.php?id=573 2013 draw, 6 schools 10 teams 2014 draw puports to have all 10 schools and 24 teams, but draw is not out yet.
hoopster
Guest
Not as far as i am aware, however if there was a decent parent and student push, i am sure they would, but quite clearly there is not enough interest. The facts are that Sydney has a form of sporting aparthied operating in its GPS schools, a wall that has been incredibly hard to break down, a wall that soccer has only recently broken down, a wall that even more recently has been broken down by Australian football being accepted. It is clearly against the the Australian way of egalitarianism. But apparently according to you Sydney is open and tolerant.
Titus
Guest
Do they play Rugby League in Melbourne private schools? The split between Rugby and Rugby League has more to do with the professional game and the amateur game, and while these lead to class and education values, they are largely breaking down as Rugby becomes professional.
hoopster
Guest
But sporting wise Sydney is not tolerant, the GPS disciminates against Australian football and it seems rugby League, so it seems like a bit ironic for you to say you are proud of Sydneys tolerance, when in fact sports wise it seems to accept sporting aparthied, in fact the the aparthied leader in Australia.
Simmo
Guest
II'm a touch confused by these claims. I'm an old boy from a GPS school and the sport has almost no history in the system apart from at Riverview. I don't doubt that the AFL is trying to get its foot in the door but a quick look around the schools' websites shows no evidence of Aussie Rules. Grammar, no references: http://www.sydgram.nsw.edu.au/co-curricular/sport/ Scots, Aussie Rules not offered, but water polo is: http://www.tsc.nsw.edu.au/view/overview-of-sports-offered King's, no AFL, but skiiing's there http://www.kings.edu.au/sport/sport-on-offer.php#5 Newington has volleyball but no AFL: http://www.newington.nsw.edu.au/stanmore-7-12/sport/sportsweplay/ Joey's offers golf and surf life saving, but no AFL http://www.joeys.org/sport/overview/ High plays table tennis and rifle-shooting but still no references to AFL http://www.sydneyboyshigh.com/sport Nothing evident at Shore http://www.shore.nsw.edu.au/co-curricular/games/general-info Riverview has had an AFL presence since the 1980s http://www.riverview.nsw.edu.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=247 This is probably yet another one of those bold claims the AFL likes to make in relation to NSW, but when you test the claims, they're found to be wanting.
Titus
Guest
Col is 100% correct, you guys don't seem to get Sydney. Think of Sydney as NY, a European settlement becomes a global city, while people set out from these cities to claim new lands and try and establish some sort of narrative that positions them as the entitled rulers of the land. In America it was the mid-west and deep-south and in Australia it was Melbourne and Brisbane. What you don't get is that Sydney is proud of it's tolerance and position in a global world, despite the chaos and short temperedness that can sometimes arise during peak hour. While we are happy for AFL to establish itself here, just as any other culture, we don't want to close ourselves off to the world and become part of a homogenous culture based on the Victorian narrative. So drop the evangelical stuff and come and join us in the great big melting pot.
Titus
Guest
OMG, you guys sound like a cross between a fascist, white supremacist group and an evangelical Christian organisation with a bit of hedge fund management thrown in.
Simmo
Guest
Got to love Victorians telling us how things work in our neck of the woods. And they get narky when we correct them.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Actually we can quanity this from the 2013 GWS Annual Report Revenue: $31,959,745 (up from 30.7 million) Profit: $30,386 (2012 loss of $176,647) Football Expense: 20.1 million (up from 19.3 million) Sponsorship: 9.2 million (up from 7.7 million) membership and merchandise: 1.4 million (down from 1.6 million) AFL distributions and match receipts: 18.2 million (down from 18.6 million) - Note: The AFL 2013 Annual Report says that the league paid $10,739,611 to GWS (which corresponds roughly to the league average). Its is however highly unlikely that GWS made an extra 7 million in match receipts. It appears that at least 7 million extra will have come from the leagues New Markets funding (budgeted at 11.5 million in 2013). In most clubs this extra funding comes from match receipts and memberships. Sponsorship is definitely where it should be. That with the average AFL dividend comes to about 20 million. The other stuff comes with growth in support - merchandise, gate reciepts and memberships.
chivasdude
Guest
Well said Kick to Kick.
kick to kick
Guest
This comment thread has bought the line that Demetriou's legacy will be determined by the fate of the Giants. That's nonsense. I have no doubt the Giants will find a niche and I recall going to Swans matches in 1993 with crowds of 3,000 and constant losses. But the Giants really only have to hang on in - or perhaps even for the Suns to survive and prosper for Demetriou's larger legacy to persist. That's securing the AFL as Australia's premier national winter code - financially, in terms of crowds, stadiums and broacasting deals. The fate of any individual team is a secondary component. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Demetriou's style, but it's an odd and myopic Melbourne based view to cavill about individual projects and to misunderstand the strategic play within a complex and highly competitive national sports market. On that basis Demetriou has already staked his place in sports history.
hoopster
Guest
I may also point out the initiative from the GPS Schools was not only help from NSWAFL but undoubted pressure from parents to let the kids play their sport of choice. Without that pressure, the GPS schools would not have allowed Australian Football in. So understanding this, it actually occurs to me that the bulk of kids who actually play in this comp are kids who are interested in Australian football.
hoopster
Guest
9 Feb, 2014 Unfortunately, we cannot accept any further registration for U5s, U6s, U7s, U8s and U10s. A few spots to go in the Under 9s 2013 Please DO NOT invite families to come along on the first training night to register. Registrations have to be done prior to this date and at this stage the Under 5, 6, 7 8s and Under 9s are full http://www.eastsydneybulldogs.com/general/news/registration-update Not enough room at Trumper Park for any more kids, too many Sherrins are flying around. 4 x under 10 teams for 2014 nshould give an idea of the numbers involved.
hoopster
Guest
That is correct, i believe the GPS comps are somewhat NSW AFL funded, but why do have a problem with this, it is a means to a end. Kids at Private schools such as the GPS schools don't pay extra for their sport, the school pays, it is part of the fees but in this instance NSW AFL is stumping up funds for umpires, medicos and coaches, this is a good thing Mal. It really is about time Sydney stopped its silly class based sports war, and became more Australian in its outlook, egalitarianism is the Australian way of life, Sydney should join in. Childcare with a Sherrin is a good thing, the kids love it, learning how to kick correctly.
hoopster
Guest
Yes Mal, eventually those kids will be sleeping with those Sherrins, comforting them at night. I think many parents regard any sort of sport as babysitting/childcare, free time for them, etc. The AFL and most other sports care not, the kids, adults and AFL are all happy, but you have a snipe, shame on you Mal, extremely petty argument. Rugby League fan are you ?.