Failing to secure Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin two years ago was the best thing that could have possibly happened to Greater Western Sydney.
The Giants may not have thought so at the time, but I’m sure they wouldn’t be shedding any tears over their ‘loss’ now.
With two young guns fit and firing up forward and an even spread of talent across the team, the western Sydney boys are almost certain of competing in their first ever finals series – unlike that other expansion team to the north.
Gold Coast might have snaffled the league’s best player in Gary Ablett, but it has done little to advance their cause in the long run.
GWS, on the other hand, failed to land a really big name and were forced to just get on with the job, develop the talent they had and look for more elsewhere.
Had they signed Franklin, that may not have happened.
Firstly, even with the concessions allowed, the money Franklin would have sucked out of the club would have made it extremely difficult to begin re-signing all their talented youngsters.
Instead, now, with a sniff of success, a real feeling of spirit, and some room to move within their salary cap, the Giants are securing their future, one youngster at a time. Jeremy Cameron, Devon Smith, Adam Tomlinson and Will Hoskin-Smith have all recently recommitted to the fledging club, with dynamo Dylan Shiel expected to follow suit shortly.
Secondly, had the Franklin deal been successful, what would have happened to Cameron and his partner in crime, Cam McCarthy? The two big men are fast becoming the league’s number one goal kicking act.
Cameron had shown promise since day one. It takes real talent to regularly kick goals in woeful teams that are taking horrible beatings, but that is exactly what he did. In 2013 he kicked 62 goals in a side that only won one game for the year. In fact, in his 51 games to the beginning of this season he had only played in six wins. He has doubled that stat in the first nine rounds of this campaign.
And isn’t he enjoying his club’s change in fortune. Now that the team is functioning as elite teams should, we are seeing just how much of a class act the big forward is. A bag of seven goals against the Hawks and a riotous five second-half goals against the Blues is indicative of the type of football that Giants fans can expect from the 22-year-old for years to come.
No doubt Cameron would have survived alongside Franklin had the former Hawk decided to grace the club with his presence, but what then would have happened to McCarthy? No attack can successfully incorporate three key forwards, and McCarthy, in just his second year after playing one game last season, would have been the unwanted third wheel.
What a shame that would have been. The 20-year-old shows great promise and has years ahead of him. If he continues with his rapid development he can form a partnership with Cameron that will terrorise opposition back lines for the next decade.
What finals aspiring team wouldn’t want that?
For the record, Cameron and McCarthy have kicked 51 goals between them this year (29 and 22 goals respectively). The Swans duo of Franklin and Kurt Tippett have kicked 43 (27 goals and 16 goals respectively).
Finally, by not signing a high-profile superstar such as Franklin, GWS have avoided becoming a ‘one player team’, a perception held by many of their expansionist cousins, the Suns.
Ablett’s form has been sensational for the Gold Coast. It’s what you would expect from a player who, up until his shoulder injury last year, was still considered to be the best in the competition. But has Gary Ablett’s presence been good for the Suns?
Has his presence stifled the development of others? Was his playing form so good and his influence on matches so great that some teammates sat back and watched the show instead of contributing in their own right?
It is easy to become overly reliant on a dominant force – especially when that dominant force happens to be one of the greatest footballers to have ever pulled on a boot – but it is not healthy for a team chasing a future.
There is a reason why coaches like to spread the load across a number of players. Unfortunately for the Suns that load has too often been carried by Ablett alone.
Could a similar thing have happened at the Giants had Franklin joined the team? Possibly. We wouldn’t have seen the development of Cam McCarthy that’s for sure.
The Giants wanted Franklin, let’s not forget that. So in a way it was more accident than good management that got them to their current situation. But I’m guessing there are no regrets within the club now about how things turned out.
Besides, creating home-grown superstars is so much sweeter than importing them.
GWS are Franklin free and flying, and that’s how it should be.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Oh perhaps I am WiG! ;) I did actually point out the low SCG crowd attendances, pre-1995, in my own article - but perhaps you missed that bit. Oh yes, "the concessions" did it, didn't they. They won the Lions and the Swans their flags. Leigh Matthews, Paul Roos and John Longmire had nothing to do with it - the concessions were this magic wand these coaches could wave, and KAZAAM! Premiership!
Penster
Guest
GWS hand out heaps of free tickets especially around the local area and they also flog tickets on the discount sites for $6 each. The key (aside from winning) is keeping the kids happy with the excellent Auskick activities pre match and the like. I regularly attended Swans matches in the early days, crowds were dismal, often less than 2000, interstate supporters outnumbered the locals half the time, and they gave out tickets like candy at Halloween, that's if the gates weren't open from quarter time. Things improved with some clever recruiting/marketing and help from the AFL, the rest is history. GWS will get going, the sport is on a roll and tapping in the unexplored Canberra market is a smart move not dissimilar to Hawks covering Tassie.
josh
Guest
You'd be surprised how little most people realise this.
WhereIsGene
Guest
You do know Sydney used to regularly hand out free tickets to home games during those years? Not to mention the uncanny frequency of "crowd unavailable" listings for such games. Perhaps you're a Swans fan who's recently jumped on the bandwagon but I can assure you in the years Sydney wasn't successful their SCG games weren't much better attended than the average VFL game. Sydney has enjoyed the best run of finals appearances of any club thanks to its' concessions which suggests the AFL has learned its' lesson and doesn't want to bail them out again, not while its pouring millions into GWS at any rate.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
The Giants biggest challenge is proving to Western Sydney people, they are their team. They have Canberra on their backs and play 5 home games down there, and they are vulnerable to player raids at the end of the season. I think Buddy not going there benefited both parties - however he was offered a larger contract to go there for $12 million over 6 years, compared to going to the Swans for $10 million over 9 years. The Swans have been preparing for life with Buddy in the long term quite well, as you would expect from a club which has managed its list as well as it has done for the last 15 years.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Sam Reid is a natural defender. Just watch the replay of the 2012 Grand Final - that showed his true potential as defender / swingman. He reads the play a lot better in defence, than in attack. His frame is similar to Dustin Fletcher's.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
That said, the Swans crowds haven't dropped that much over the years - even in the 'bad' seasons of 2000, 2002 and 2009. The Swans supporters are a lot more passionate these days, than they are given credit for. No NRL team can boast the crowds they have averaged since 1995. The Swans have played their market smart - the GWS - 5 home games in Canberra? Come on, what message does that send?
WhereIsGene
Guest
That's right, besides winning premierships is always the best marketing tool of all and by the time the Giants window opens in a few years Franklin will be past his prime. They already have a couple of very marketable forwards in Cameron & Patton anyway. GC on the other hand may regret throwing the kitchen sink at Ablett particularly in light of his shoulder.
Sean Lee
Expert
A couple of them would have to have been reinvented as backmen! I suppose the prime example of that would be Sam Reid at Sydney. He has been pushed out of a key forward spot by Buddy and Tippett.
Sean Lee
Expert
Absolutely. It has been a real win/win situation for the Giants.
Sean Lee
Expert
Agreed Axle. Hopefully a period of sustained success might turn that around but who knows? Sydney Swans crowds can drop significantly when their team struggles so it can be a fairly fickle fan market up there. Matthew Russell in the comments above suggested that the Suns should put on a few free games to get crowds in and generate some interest. Perhaps GWS should consider something like that. It might stimulate some interest and get some people along who wouldn't normally go. The trick is though to keep them coming back.
Sean Lee
Expert
Yes, the marketing would have been the big thing with Buddy, but as you say, if we are looking for long term success sometimes you have to look past all the pretty bells and whistles.
Sean Lee
Expert
Sounds like you need one Josh if something like that upsets you!
kick to kick
Guest
The biggest boon from not signing Buddy was securing Mumford as the Swans, having secured Franklin, had to unload players for salary cap room. The Swans released Mumford in part because he had a history of recent injury. But he has been durable and is now arguably the most important player in the Giant's structure. In terms of midfield competitive grunt he is a key and is as important as guns like Cameron and Dylan Shiel.
TomC
Roar Guru
It's hard to argue with, really. One thing I always felt about the A-league franchises is that the teams that most quickly built a strong brand and a connection with the fans were those who eschewed the big name marquees and went for players who would add to the team. Possibly GWS are better off building their support through home grown superstars that fans can identify with GWS, instead of with their past achievements. So while the recruitment of Franklin would certainly have garnered a lot of publicity, maybe even some credibility, for the GWS club, perhaps the long term benefits wouldn't be as great as having a couple of homegrown heroes over whom the fans can feel some sense of ownership.
Axle an the Guru
Guest
The Giant worry for GWS is home crowds,there average home crowd this year so far is smaller then their first two years of operation,considering they are going quite well this year,it is a major concern.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
And imagine if they hadn't traded Boyd as well!
WhereIsGene
Guest
Signing Franklin would've benefited GWS in the short term but cost them down the track when the time comes to re-sign guys like Shiel, Coniglio, Treloar, Whitfield etc. The biggest benefit would've been in marketing which would've been significant.
Winston
Guest
I think it's fair to say they're doing well now, but I wouldn't go so far to say not getting Buddy was the best thing ever. Buddy is Buddy, and there is no alternative, so that's one. As to McCarthy and Patton, well they can trade them out and get reinforcements for other parts of the ground, or send one of them back to help out in defence, which I still think is suspect with Davis at fullback. It would probably mean they wouldn't have Mumford, which would be a bit of a blow, but Giles wasn't doing too bad at the time, and they would still have done the Boyd/Griffen trade, which means midfield wouldn't have suffered. Don't know about the money side though as to whether they could still have afforded Griffen. And at the end of the day, unless your forward line has roughead rioli breust etc in it, having Buddy will always be better than not having him.
Wilson
Roar Guru
"by not signing a high-profile superstar such as Franklin, GWS have avoided becoming a ‘one player team’, a perception held by many of their expansionist cousins, the Suns." Very True I think if you look at who GWS has picked up the selection has been better then the SUN to make sure that they do not depend on one player. and to put experience in to the area that it needs.