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But don’t you know, we play rugby league here. Not bloody aerial ping-pong.
In 1999, the AFL began to float the idea of a second Sydney team. The Swans were up and running, and the market exposure had proved a profitable venture for the league.
The men in suits whispered among themselves, but that’s all it seemed to be.
In 2005, there were a few more whispers, and the area of Western Sydney was considered. As the region populated considerably faster than anticipated, development of the game at a grassroots level looked positive. There was a bit more of a murmur now.
The league received support from the Morris Iemma government in 2006, and developed programs and partnerships with the Blacktown Sports Centre, right in the rugby league heartland of Rooty Hill.
Over the next couple of years, the AFL worked to link with the Western Sydney University, developing a NEAFL team.
Toes were firmly dipped in the water now.
In 2012, the Greater Western Sydney Giants played their first game in the AFL, losing to the Swans by 63 points.
Sure, there were a couple of finer details worked out during those six years, along with just a couple of recruiting and draft concessions.
Flash forward to 2017, and the team that grew from the original floating idea are odds-on favourites to win the premiership.
Those ‘insurmountable cultural barriers’ faced by AFL in Western Sydney (which saw AFL Tasmania fight the bid so fiercely), might just bloody disappear if they can come home with a flag.
But who becomes the hero of the West?
In a team so heavily stacked with talent – with jokes across the league of other clubs recruiting purely from the Giant’s reserves – which player steps up to become the first premiership hero of the Western Sydney experiment?
It is difficult to look past super-midfielder Stephen Coniglio as the man who drives the group across the line in September.
The 2011 number two draft pick has remained the standard-setter across the playing group since his debut in the first round of the 2012 season. His 34 disposals against Port Adelaide in Round 4 last year underlined the maturity the team had finally reached.
Heath Shaw is an undoubtedly reliable and consistent team man, averaging over 24 touches a game and ranked first in the league for rebound 50s. The former Magpie was only beaten by Nick Riewoldt for total marks taken across the 2016 season.
Shaw is a bona fide one-on-one master and he isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Toby Greene finished 2016 in blinding form and has the kind of aggression that unsettles opposition defences. He kicked 44 goals for the giants last year – a significant jump from the 15 that went through the sticks in 2015.
With Cameron dragging away key defenders, Greene looks to be a crucial goal sneak who now has a bit of a whiff for big games.
Because their list just wasn’t good enough (oh, come on), they’ve gone and had a screamer of a trade period too. Will Brett Deledio have the same Stevie-J effect and bolster the young-guns into an even more cohesive attack? God help us.
In trying to identify their potential standout September performers, you really start to realise how deep they go – ‘but I know he did this, but he did it too, and he can do that, and then there is also him…’
The density of their elite picks and reserve talent in injury prone ruck and forward line areas means the Giants are entering a premiership window that may be longer than we’ve ever seen.
It is principally agreed between AFL pundits that clubs usually have a three-to-four-year window with a flag worthy list to actually get the job done. Yet, with the list now compiled in Western Sydney, these opportunities could last several seasons longer.
For anyone looking ahead, oh boy, there’s a Giant in September.
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