GWS enjoyed wins both on and off the AFL field last Saturday night, with the expansion club drawing their biggest home crowd of the season.
A total of 14,456 fans watched the Giants hold on for a thrilling two-point win over reigning premiers Richmond at Spotless Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a noted spike compared to the 10,866 that watched GWS defeat Hawthorn at the same venue a fortnight earlier, what had been the highest attendance at Spotless this season.
It was also GWS’s biggest home crowd, in terms of revenue from ticket sales, in the club’s history apart from derbies against Sydney.
NRL ladder leaders South Sydney and the Canterbury Bulldogs, in action at Olympic Park on Saturday afternoon, attracted a crowd of 14,278.
The Giants went head to head with a Super Rugby derby between the finals-bound NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies at Allianz Stadium, which pulled in 17,100 punters, while the NSW Swifts were also in action on Saturday night.
Giants chief executive David Matthews admits the presence of a travelling Tiger Army contingent in the final weekend of Victoria’s school holidays helped his club, but described the game as as major step forward in terms of local support.
Former Australian Rugby League chief Geoff Carr famously called GWS the AFL’s Vietnam war, insisting they will not win the hearts and minds of western Sydney.
The Giants have also been regularly criticised in AFL circles throughout their existence, with many questioning whether the league’s substantial investment has been worthwhile.
“I don’t necessarily see them as knockers. They either don’t understand the challenge or they’re impatient,” Matthews told AAP.
Matthews, who continues to take a long-term view of his club’s growth, suggested GWS could be in a position to sell out blockbuster games against powerhouses like Richmond “in the next couple of years”.
“It will fill up over time,” he said.
“Richmond is a big club, probably the biggest in the AFL now.
“I was talking to Richmond CEO Brendon Gale on Saturday night and he mentioned how their membership was 29,000, 15 years ago or so.
“For a club that is six and a half years old to have built a membership base of almost 25,000 and get a crowd of 14,500, up against a lot of content in the Sydney market and the Olympic Park precinct, is really good progress.
“We’re going pretty well.”
Plans are already afoot to redevelop Spotless, which currently has a capacity of 24,000.
“Our challenge is to try to get 23-25,000 to the venue, but over time plans to get that to 30,000-plus make good sense,” Matthews said.
anon
Roar Pro
I believe the Saturday night crowd. Richmond has a big supporter base. They have been fudging figures throughout the year and in previous seasons. They also hand out a lot of free tickets to pump up attendance numbers.
Alicesprings
Guest
Ha..Obviously didn't watch any of the game?? Might be worth watching the highlights mate. Easily 14k. Let me know how you go. Seriously don't understand the chip that people have on their shoulder when it comes to GWS. They cop it from all sides - angry AFL types from Victorians and paranoid NRL types from NSW -. a fun mix.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Yep, i take it your TV eyes ?.
anon
Roar Pro
I'll believe what I see with my own eyes. If a stadium looks no more than a 1/4 full them I'm not not going to believe it's close to half full.
clipper
Guest
Have you looked at the ratings lately, Josh? The NRL have not had one day on FTA where they've beaten the AFL - often they are 200k at least behind. They did get 91k for a Swans match earlier this year, mostly they are around 50k.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
There's no accounting for taste.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Not sure what it says for you, you are over anything to do with GWS like a cheap suit, cheap being the operative word. Nothing i have said implies takeover, nor do i actually think that.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Doesn't the RAS do the crowd count at Spotless ?.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
It is actually arguable that the biggest problem in Sydney is apathy attending sports - all sports, although the Swans sort of buck the trend - but they are perennial finalists. Is it really to much of a stretch to see weekly GWS attendances average in high teens to around 20k - a premiership would probably do the trick
josh
Guest
Clocking up some overtime I see. Gotta keep pushing that 'taking over' barrow.
Josh
Guest
Are you for real ? Check the tv ratings, all the NRL fans are at home watching. How's the AFL ratings in Sydney going ?
anon
Roar Pro
Some of the attendances this year are pure fiction. There would have been only around 4k at the GWS vs Suns game but the AFL claimed 7k or 8k. They're cooking the numbers to justify hundreds of millions they have spend on the expansion teams.
Raj
Guest
the game against Richmond definitely felt like a milestone with the crowd screaming “ball” and cries of “boo” at poor umpiring decisions haha plenty of colour and drama in that game it’s refreshing to see an aussie organisation like the AFL be bold and setup the giants in what was previously a location with the weakest level of support great stuff
Aligee
Roar Rookie
This year GWS have 2 spotless home games, one a derby against the Swans and other against ST Kilda, combined they could bring 30,000 fans, that would see them average around 11,500 for Spotless home games, atm they are averaging around 10,500. Manuka is averaging around 11,000 with a home game against Adelaide, so will probably stay the same. Spotless average. 2017 - 13456 2016 - 12126 2015 - 11032 2014 - 9609 2013 - 8281 2012 - 8117
Anthony
Guest
Meanwhile the NRL is expecting under 10,000 for Thursday night’s game......the lowest for the 2 clubs in 20 years. NRL Sydney crowds have been averaging 15,000 for 12 years, but this year several have been about 10,000
Peeko
Guest
They did claim 9000 earlier this year when there was around 4000 The Waratahs refused to announce crowds earlier this year
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Richmond were formed in 1885 so that makes them 133/4 years old, pretty successful over the years from a very hard working class area. You can still see football played at Punt Road Oval a couple of minutes walk from the G from the front bar of the Royal Hotel were the club was formed in 1885, that's of course if you can take your eyes of the skimpies. Tigers fans have been drinking there for 130 plus years. Richmond have been lucky with its location.
Penster
Roar Guru
I have 2 memberships to GWS and didn't receive a "bring a friend for free" email this week. The crowd was really noisy and there seems to be more people wearing the club colours. Pretty happy with the club, works hard for it's members and excellent game day experience - probably the best in the country.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
If you run some sort of a graph I would bet that membership and attendance at Spotless and Manuka over the years correlate with the yearly increase of 10/15% in junior teams competing in both in Canberra and the GWS district in Sydney, more specifically the GWS district. Whether they are linked is another question, but it certainly makes sense if they are.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Yep Spotty is a delight. Great for Cricket too. Good food and reasonably priced as well. Any interstaters planning a footy trip should go there instead of the SCG. SCG's charm has long disappeared. Seats expensive. Add to that deplorable food and daylight robbery prices.