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Has Greater Western Sydney slipped over the past three years? After making the preliminary finals in 2016 and 2017, this year they were rolled in the semifinals.
Although the margin was only ten points, it was also just ten scoring shots more than the Magpies had in which Collingwood would have been extremely unlucky to lose.
Talking about luck, it takes many forms during a season of AFL football and I endorse Leon Cameron’s thought that Greater Western Sydney have improved each year (including this year) and track to challenge for (and possibly win) the premiership in 2019.
As mentioned, luck plays are a big part in success in the AFL.
Whether it is the draw, the injuries sustained, the personal form of the players (which can be affected by so many outside influences), the bounce of the ball, the umpiring decisions, the weather, the near misses, the freak goals or some other factor – the fate of a team can be decided by an accumulation of these factors over a season.
I believe that Greater Western Sydney was unlucky this year and – if they had a year of injuries similar to Richmond, a favourable draw similar to Melbourne, Hawthorn and Collingwood and an ounce more luck in some of the games they played – they would be in the hunt for a premiership this year.
It is interesting to compare the performances of the two newest clubs to the league, the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney.
The Suns have been in the competition one year longer than the Giants who started in 2012, but the Giants have already won the equivalent of one full season’s (22) games than Gold Coast who have yet to make the finals in their eight years of existence.
Even the resilience of their top game player is revealing. Jarrod Harbrow has played an impressive 154 games out of a possible 166 for the Suns whereas Callan Ward has played an even more impressive 156 out of a possible 161.
If we drill down further into the top 15 game players, only Devon Smith has defected from the Giants so far, whereas – when the dust settles on the trading period – eight or more of the top 15 game players at the Gold Coast Suns will no longer be there.
(Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
The same stability applies to the officials. At the Giants, only Kevin Sheedy and Leon Cameron have coached. At the Suns, Conor McKenna, Rodney Eade, Dean Solomon and Stuart Dew. The list goes on – presidents, CEOs, etc. are all more stable at GWS.
Why is this so?
Some put it down to the ‘holiday’ atmosphere of the Gold Coast which makes it ‘a great place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there’ and no doubt homesickness is a factor.
However, I believe the main ingredient in Greater Western Sydney’s continued durability and success was laid by Sheedy in the early days was belief.
This was a culture was built around working together as a team to build something special.
In other words, create a tradition that many of the other clubs had been working for over 100 years to achieve.
Greater Western Sydney will be a champion team for many years to come.
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