I have to admit it, I too was one them. Back during those early days of the Greater Western Sydney Giants I was one who wondered why the powers that be had spent so much of the AFL’s dowry on Tom Scully.
Somehow it didn’t seem fair and I know many GWS fans felt a little the same. The Gold Coast Suns got Gary Ablett Jr and the Giants got Scully. Well, I guess they did get Scully senior too as they signed his dad Phil to a recruitment job.
Just a couple of good performances were sprinkled among some mediocre efforts in that inaugural season with the Giants, leading to all the questions about whether GWS had gone the right way with their recruitment. Surely there were better options and candidates out there for the $6 million they paid for Scully’s six-year contract?
He was an easy target for the media, and fans of both the Giants and other clubs, particularly those disgruntled ones from Melbourne. He was after all the one getting paid megabucks. The others were either kids kicking off their careers and with so much to learn, or an ex-NRL player who was also kicking off his now brief career and who had even more to learn.
Scully could actually thank Israel Folau, as he would have been even more in the firing squad’s sights had Izzy not been a Giant.
But slowly Scully has improved, and his game on Saturday against the Swans was another good one, with several signs that finally – halfway through his long contract – the Giants are about to reap some rewards.
Rarely has Scully caused the statistic takers to run out of ink. He spent most of 2014 in a run-with role after all. He probably never will have one of those statistically mind-blowing games, and he certainly won’t consistently produce the sort of numbers the Gold Coast have got from their big recruit.
But Scully has continued to put in, especially defensively in an often badly beaten team, but now, as his young teammates develop – plus the very key signing of Ryan Griffen – I expect we’re about to see the best of Tom Scully.
And so does Giants’ coach Leon Cameron.
“We need to make sure we use Tom a little bit more,” Cameron said after the Giants’ first loss of 2015 to Sydney on Saturday.
“His back half was just power running and he got better and better as the game went on, but even in the first half he made some really good decisions.
“In the first few years I’ve been here, looking at behind the goals’ vision of every time we’ve played, there was always a Tom Scully run into space for the third or fourth possession. There is no doubt we have made some serious ground on our ball use to get it to Tom when he does break hard, because he’s got an enormous engine.
“It’s a great advantage to have that sort of player on your side who can play 90-95 per cent of game time and still run at that level, and I thought it was a really good solid game from him.”
If you do prefer to simply look at stats, they read for Scully on Saturday: 27 disposals, 12 marks, a goal, six inside 50m, and almost 93 per cent effective disposal.
But as Cameron says, there is so much more to his game that just pure statistics, and you get the feeling that the Giants believe their recruitment decision is on the verge of being well and truly vindicated.
And we have to remember, too, that Scully is young. He’s still only 23 and has played only 89 senior games.
As Cameron – who has described Scully as the “best by a country mile at two-way running” – said recently, it’s a credit to Scully that despite all the stones being thrown at him, he’s never complained and never given up.
“I think his best footy is around the corner as we start to grow.”
ciudadmarron
Guest
You want to know the difference? The thunder are just another bbl franchise. Like all the others they play a few times in the summer and that's it. They aren't meant to be representative of anything other than some entertainment for the kids and those with short attention spans. They are possibly even less a "western sydney" team than the giants but they aren't pretending to be. They are just the BBl franchise that plays at Homebush. They weren't set up with promises before hoodwinking the government for unneeded cash for themselves and then getting out as quick as possible. They don't play a bunch of their games in another city. They dont ignore the small community of adherents to their game in their supposed region.
Madge
Guest
Funny no-one complains when the Thunder pay at SOP but only when the Giants do - do you notice any hypocrisy here or is your bias so blinding you cant see the failure in your own argument..
Josh
Guest
Immigrants ?
Jrod
Guest
No, the Tom Scully family pr machine. Not far from the next contract now.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Yes, the team that has equally captured the imagination of western Sydney, for that very reason. I see thunder stuff everywhere too! Sydney Olympic Park... the real heart of the west. When I think of Western Sydney, I know that's what I think of.
Steele
Guest
Jumping the shark a little bit here surely? He's generally been nothing more than workmanlike for the majority of his career. Certainly not a damaging player and someone the opposition puts much time into.
Madge
Guest
the truth You must be concerned as Mr Football said the ratings FTA for Sat arvo were pretty good - he didn't suggest they would take over the world - besides they have moved from Blacktown to that other western Sydneys teams home - the Thunder...
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The game got ratings of 192k on a Saturday arvo, which is pretty good considering it involved two Sydney teams.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
I still say the Giants will both play finals football and win a premiership before the Suns do. And I reckon Scully's presence will be a major reason why they will.
Kaks
Roar Guru
LOL
Don Freo
Guest
When you look at what Leon Cameron is doing with these " dime a dozen" types, you should be impressed. Mark Harvey almost destroyed the career of Rising Star, Rhys Palmer, by giving him 20 minutes a game. Cameron simply gave him some faith and put him to work. With Scully, Cameron just showed him some faith and put him to work. Leon Cameron has a team full of players who know they are valued. Meanwhile, at Gold Coast, there is a team full of players who have a coach that thinks they are no good.
The truth
Guest
Obviously you have never walked down the main street in blacktown. Thousands upon thousands of kids are walking around in GWS gear. It's only a matter of time until AFL takes over the world.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Michael with regards to Scully he is caught between where he is in his career as a young footballer learning his midfield craft and the outrageous amount of money that GWS offered him to join the Club when virtually no one else would go. Then add to this the fact he was a Number 1 Draft Pick you can see why the public has so many views on the kid. If you look at him purely on footballing ability he is progressing each year steadily but not spectacularly. He is a dime-a-dozen unremarkable midfielder/half back flanker that offers GWS nothing more (or less) than a reasonably solid contribution each week he is available. While in the ordinary scheme of things this is ok Scully doesn’t get this luxury because of what I mentioned above - Contract $$ and Draft Status. The Money that was offered could not be turned down. That is a once in a lifetime offer and one that he will never see again – he had to take that money and you can’t begrudge him for doing so. When you accept a $1M a year contract for a total of 6 years then you need to accept that your performance will be heavily scrutinised. He is earning money that Gary Ablett Jr and Lance Franklin currently do and is in the region of other big names in years gone by like Judd, Hird, Buckley, Carey etc. Those players are/were game changing footballers. If the team was down they could individually lift the entire club to a win. Scully is not in the same class and may never actually get there. There is not a single performance of his career to date that you could say “Wow remember that game against XXXX when Scully had 35 possessions and kicked 4 goals and dragged GWS over the line”. Ablett and Franklin have had so many of them you wouldn’t know where to start and they justify their income. While on comparable deals to Ablett Jr and Franklin he will be scrutinised on the same level. It may not be fair but there is no way GWS can say with a straight face that the money he is being paid is appropriate for his level of output on the field. Marketability also comes into it when you are a $1M a season player. Ablett and Franklin are the face of their respective Clubs and lead strategy for the Club when attracting punters to the games. Can anyone at GWS honestly say the same of Scully? Lastly and maybe not that important is the fact that he was taken with the Number 1 pick of the 2009 Draft. Top 10 picks are more heavily scrutinised that all other picks and are expected to contribute immediately, the Number 1 more so. What typically happens 3-5 years after the draft is the media and public will become aware of players from a certain draft year that have developed and excelled and then the questions start – “How did PLAYER X only get picked up with pick 26?”. Some of Scully’s contemporaries of the class of 2009 include Ben Cunnington, Daniel Talia, Lewis Jetta, Nathan Fyfe, Jake Carlisle, Mitch Duncan and Jack Gunston – all very good players which he will draw comparisons to when that draft class is brought up in discussion. Scully is young and has had a tough initiation into the AFL world firstly at a woeful Melbourne and then with a barely competent GWS in his first 5 seasons. Hopefully he can continue to progress from a development point of view and become a star midfielder and not just another “midfielder on the list that adds depth”.
Macca
Guest
I like it Tom!
TomC
Roar Guru
In that case, they have been remarkably loud and aggressive in expressing their indifference.
Handles
Roar Guru
Melbourne fans were not disappointed with Tom when he went. Some were angry at the system, but the money was so ridiculous relative to demonstrated performance that most realized nobody could turn it down.
TomC
Roar Guru
He was pretty good. He'll be a solid contributor to that team for many years. There are others to get more excited about though. Whitfield had a huge game.
Tony Tea
Guest
Is this a Giants' press release?