It’s no surprise that Fremantle is on top of the ladder after the first third of the season, but it certainly wasn’t expected that the GWS Giants would be sitting pretty in the top five and equal second on points with five wins.
They have been helped in the first few rounds facing teams that, like them, finished in the bottom six of the ladder in 2014. If anything though, their wins against St Kilda, Melbourne and Carlton, along with the Gold Coast, have shown the extent of the strides the Giants are taking compared to last season’s cellar dwellers.
Considering that the Giants are still a fledgling team, they entered the season as no certainty to win these games, but bar the St Kilda encounter, which was tight, they not only beat the Demons, the Suns and the Blues, they trounced them.
They also pushed Sydney and if not for bad kicking, especially early, they might have caused a massive upset, which they went on to achieve against Hawthorn.
That would be the biggest win in the club’s short history so far and then they showed their maturity with their thrashing of Carlton, who are at rock bottom.
The Giants were red hot favourites to win it, but after such an euphoric win over the Hawks, there was still the possibility that this emerging team may have a letdown even against a once proud club, who might be approaching their lowest ebb.
They dominated from the start and very quickly have become potential finalists and dangerous floaters against every team they play.
West Coast is the only side to get hold of them and their last month, but the way they have pulverised sides indicates the Giants might be just one of many the Eagles thrash this season.
In every other game they have produced solid performances, which also proves, as well as maturity, that their consistency of performance has also increased dramatically under Leon Cameron.
He was offered the Port Adelaide job at the end of 2012 and just got pipped the previous year for the Western Bulldogs’ coaching position.
History tells us that Port got it right with Ken Hinkley, although they have spluttered to just three wins from their first seven matches this season, while in my opinion the Dogs should have picked Cameron ahead of the man, who won the job, Brendan McCartney.
Cameron decided not to take the Port role and instead elected to be Kevin Sheedy’s assistant at GWS for one year and then take over as senior coach.
It seems he has made the right decision as his side contains some of the best young talent in the country.
Mind you, the AFL gave them every chance by giving them 11 of the top 15 draft picks in 2011 such as Stephen Coniglio, Toby Green, Jon Patton , Will Hoskin-Elliott and Devon Smith!
They were also given access to some of the best under 17 year olds the previous year including Jeremy Cameron, Adam Treloar and Dylan Shiel.
Most of these players have got at least 50 games under their belt and are becoming stars in the competition, although Patton has been curtailed in his progress due to two knee reconstructions.
High draft selections like Tom Boyd in 2013 and the class of 2011, Dom Tyson and Taylor Adams returned home to Victoria, but at this stage they have managed to maintain the rest of them.
Up forward, Jeremy Cameron and second year player, Cam McCarthy (who has yet to play ten games), have already kicked almost 50 goals between them this season.
They now also have the right mix of experienced players from other clubs to help Tom Scully and particularly Callan Ward and Phil Davis in Heath Shaw, powerful ruckman Shane Mumford, Ryan Griffen and one of the League’s best defenders, the former lion, Joel Patfull.
It’s a potent forward line that can score quickly helped by a talented midfield that now runs deep. The playing list profile is now close to perfect and like the Gold Coast last year in their fourth season in 2014, the Giants have only lost twice in their first seven.
It seemed for the first two thirds of last year, the Suns were on target to make their finals debut, but when the great Gary Ablett damaged his shoulder in Round 16 forcing him out for the rest of the year, Gold Coast fell apart winning just one of their last six.
Looking at their dreadful start to this year, they are still way too reliant on Ablett, but as far as the Giants are concerned 12 months down the track there are great signs that they are much better at sharing the load.
Matt McDonald
Roar Rookie
You'd think that but considering we here Novocastrians lack the infrastructure to really support an AFL team, it is a hard sell.. Between an AFL team and a big bash team as possible future expansions, you'd imagine someone would at least start discussing an oval to be developed so we can at least have some NAB challenge games or Sheffield Shield games.
cm
Guest
Can you explain why some of these clubs have approached the Giants for assistance/player visits etc and been rebuffed then, while the Giants are happy to actually sponsor a club that is effectively the antithesis of what western Sydney is all about (a club whose members didn't want it but basically couldn't say no to the money?). And why should long existing clubs have to change their names to get a slice? Clubs may well merge and split off, but that's kind of the point, isn't it. If the GWS 20 year plan is all about getting this market share in the region, then it's a bit of an indictment that now the AFL is in the region, clubs are still struggling the way they always have, while the 20 year money gets splashed around elsewhere.
XI
Roar Guru
They actually make trips out there to the clubs and fans pretty regularly. They even visited a hospital there a couple of weeks ago. They also sponsor three clubs across Sydney: Macarthur (at least they used to), Manly and Auburn. And clubs in Western Sydney merge and split off and reform every few years. I've actually seen how much equipment and time they give to local clubs and considering how big Western Sydney is, it's a decent effort. In fact, my old junior club switched from Swans to Giants in the last couple of years.
Lroy
Guest
@The Truth.. thats not true.. I met two Kiwis on the gold coast who are mad keen rugby fans who go to watch Suns games every second week...
cm
Guest
What's your point there mf? Greater NSW? That's not where these 2 million strong market share people are either. The riverina is under the barassi line more or less anyway. But is that part of the 20 year plan?
alicesprings
Guest
You would think a team out of Newcastle would be on the AFL's radar. The other regional team i would like to see in the NEAFL would be a representative team from Cairns.
alicesprings
Guest
Often hear people say..'but they have 10k members from the old south melbourne days'..What about all those that have moved down south from sydney that are paid up members do they count?? I know a few! Heck up here in the middle of the desert there are a heap of AFL club members. This makes footy training pretty bizarre for new arrivals…so many different footy jumpers! I know members of every AFL club up here..GWS included..not too many other small towns in Aus where you could say that!
Matt McDonald
Roar Rookie
GWS also seem seem to have been content with a strategy of learning from defeats is a large part of success. They have had a rough run but stayed the course. They have also publicly fostered team unity as a core goal, rather than being reliant on marquee signings. This contrasts well to GC, who have had quite an aggressive plan forward in trying achieve success quickly through churning through talent and staff, and with bigger signings. Whilst GWS had been left to the slow burn, GC wanted to burn hard; and burn fast. I'll admit I'm surprised at which strategy is bearing fruit first.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
cm All the football strongholds in South-West NSW have been targetted, including the Riverina and Canberra. It's all part of the mix.
XI
Roar Guru
I'm a born-and-bred Sydneysider and have never been to a rugby league match and I can count all the an association football matches and rugby union matches I've been to on one hand each. I care a great deal about the Giants and if I wasn't a poor uni student who worked on weekends then I would attend more matches. None of my family are Victorian either, by the way.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Agree Matt - there is one thing we can be absolutely certain of - the Giants will exist for as long as the AFL exists.
Mitcher
Guest
Correcting people must be so tiring. So tiring you don't even bother to establish their point before rushing in.
Matt McDonald
Roar Rookie
I live in Newcastle, and support Canterbury, Jets and GWS. Alot of people here are either short sighted single code fans, or in the densely packed heart land of AFL. GWS get the fortune of drawing a long bow and firing into a very broad area (specifically, the REST of NSW). They may only pick up a couple of thousand members, but their odd's of surviving are greatly improved. i'm quite confident we will hear alot less about GWS relocating or merging than a few our less fortunate southern bretheren...
lao hu
Guest
off topic a little , are there any plans to include regional NSW teams in the NEAFL?
Rodney
Guest
Campbelltown is also a very strong area but the North Sydney region has had more clubs and more teams playing consistently for a while (at least i'm pretty sure that's the case). There is a team in almost every suburb and the area up here is a lot denser than the extreme south west I'd also wager they'd have more AFL members up there than in Campbelltown (although that is just purely anecdotal based on the number of membership stickers i've seen and fans i've seen in general)
Matt McDonald
Roar Rookie
Lets look at this pragmatically shall we. At the Giants Vs Hawks game there were 13,556 spectators at the game. A game which no one really thought GWS would win, and an away game for Hawthorn in a city that apparently doesn't want a second AFL team. (Hawthorn claimed around 3000 total members in NSW and QLD and 7000 in Tasmania from facts I could find). Compare this with Hawthorns last game at Aurora Stadium against the Western Bulldogs. Home game for Hawks, in their 'Second Home' in a state screaming for an AFL team. That game pulled 15,559. GWS was still being written off and hadn't hit their stride and pulled only 2000 less for a home game than the defending defending champions. I'm sorry but the problem for Tasmania is population density and distribution, plain and simple.
Matt McDonald
Roar Rookie
Because there's no point placing a team in a small saturated market. Why would the AFL invest in a Tasmanian when they are having static support in the state. The league would had been compelled to Sydney for a few reasons. Huge potential market, access to Canberra, and a back end to grass roots investment. What better way to compel a following then placing a successful team in that market? And even then, a compelling argument could be made that most league viewers would only watch a game with a team they support, and maybe that weekends marque match. You would rather an active viewer of one game than a passive viewer of many. Trust me, the AFL would had done much greater due diligence on this than any of us...
BigAl
Guest
Precisely my point - the bottom line is the bottom line...
Go for it!
Guest
Im with you 100% at least two Melbourne clubs will go by the wayside in the next 20 years and thats as it should be!
Go for it!
Guest
Who cares? the Giants are on their way and it will be an exciting journey A lot of credit should be paid to the old fox himself Kevin Sheedy.