Let’s face it, GWS were on a hiding to nothing.
If they kicked on and won the five premierships in a row that they were tipped to, it would have been regarded like a bunch of private school boys pulling off what the world had given them anyway – coiffed haircuts winning the premiership in a friction-less, skilled but boring way.
If they lost – as they ultimately did in 2017 and 2018 – then they were flaky underachievers. If they had no fans based in a non-footy zone, then it was a joke to be laughed at.
A decade ago, the prospect of the corporate Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants being admitted into the league seemed to augur a decade of artificiality: two teams that no one cared about stealing draft picks and premierships from St Kilda, Richmond, Fremantle and the long-suffering cases.
The first time GWS were relevant was the smashing they gave three-peat Hawthorn in early 2016. That game featured newly-Gianted Steve Johnson spending the entire match scragging with Luke Hodge, both ignoring a match the Giants won by 75 points.
Approaching their first final against Sydney in 2016, it occurred to me that this game could set the tone for all GWS finals and therefore their identity in perpetuity. Would they do a Fremantle 2003 and fall away, and be irrelevant for another decade?
In the event, though, Johnson ironed out Swan Josh Kennedy, Jeremy Cameron scored three goals in three minutes, and suddenly the Giants were the future – and the present.
Of course, the trade-off was that Johnson on Kennedy cost them the 2016 flag. But at least they now had that identity.
An identity of you-know-whats that everyone hates? Sure. But this was basically the only way they could have forged some authenticity as a club – to become a real club, with bona fides.
They suffer from having no fans at away games, definitely, especially in Melbourne finals like the Richmond match in 2017, the most partisan AFL crowd of all time. It suggests that perhaps they will lose their soul again once the early 2010s draft picks retire.
Nonetheless, GWS have done well to create a club with something of a true feel in only eight seasons. They have leaked players, but not the best ones – Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio have re-signed new deals.
Their comparison is Gold Coast, naturally, who in nine seasons have formed no soul or even had a winning season. Forming an identity is not a question of simply winning games.
It is about stirring up emotions in opposing fans.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
Toby Greene whacked Caleb Daniel in the head. Shane Mumford admitted to liking to tackle the opposition with closed fists because it was an under-the-radar chance to hit people. Greene fly-kicked Luke Dahlhaus in the face. Mumford came out of retirement. Lachie Whitfield swung a few fists. The Toby Greene rule caused the outlawing of the cherished specky. Greene did God knows what to Marcus Bontempelli. Greene continued to lace up his football boots in general, heinous acts all.
Sure, they were the classical bullies who could only beat up people weaker than them and who faded without trace when the heat was turned up come finals time – as Greene himself faded in away finals against Adelaide, Richmond and Collingwood. They never took the final step in that evolution to became a team greater than or even equal to the sum of its parts on the scoreboard and in the win column.
And their aggression was not the controlled type, like Hawthorn over Sydney in 2014, but rather a generally self-defeating, haphazard mess, with the exception of last weekend.
But damn, they’ve stirred up a tide of negative passion that the coiffed premierships would not have. I ended up despising the generally upright Callan Ward not for walking out on the Dogs in 2011 but simply for being the captain of such an annoying bunch of players.
I truly mean this seriously: becoming a team of prats – and a prat team – was necessary. It meant they couldn’t be ignored. They created friction with the universe.
They became a football club.
Raimond
Roar Guru
I think the the Suns do provoke southern footy fans, simply by existing. I would love to see them winning games.
Raimond
Roar Guru
I was thinking of writing a similar article, so you’ve saved me the trouble.
Tezza knows
Roar Rookie
What absolute nonsense. GWS, put simply is a good team because it has the cattle and the AFL injected them with a large heroin dose of young talent to give them a rush. It worked. So it's talent and of course hard work. They have unfair physical players, but really only two of them, Mumford and the Robbie Muir type of player, out of control Greene. GWS does have a chance as the Pies have underdone players and have had 2 rests. I think GWS will physically come up, but if the Pies get in front, they are a very very hard team to get over. They have unquestionably proved that resilience by their fight back in the latter half of the season, despite some key injuries. Darcy Moore and Adams (who I don't rate very highly) has surprised recently and in the GF last year. These two might be the difference in this match. If Nick Haynes is injured during the match, GWS has no hope as he is absolutely critical to their back line holding up. The midfield of GWS has been gutted as we know, so it will be a tough assignment. What I am sure of is that they will try and blast through with pace and movement from the first bounce, but the Pies are slick and very polished ball handlers (the best in the comp.) and will hurt GWS deep with dangerous Stephenson and the physical, skilled Elliot. If GWS ignore Treloar, oh dear!!
Yawn of the Dead
Guest
Yeah rightyo.
George Apps
Roar Rookie
I haven't disliked a player so much since "Big Nic" was playing for Caarrrlton!
George Apps
Roar Rookie
"their"
Johnson
Guest
Yes yes yes Absolutely shocking display by the umpires in the Richmond final 2 years ago where they tried to disguise it and grant a bunch of frees to GWS at the end of the game. They got the rough end in the first half last week as well. On another note, the irony here is that GWS is currently a REAL footy club based on the way they treat their supporters (far fewer than many other clubs) while the big guns act like Corporates where fans have no access to. I actually feel like I belong to a footy club at the moment, and last weeks game with 19,000 supporters at a small stadium felt like the "old days" of suburban footy.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Very funny Marty "That game featured newly-Gianted Steve Johnson spending the entire match scragging with Luke Hodge, both ignoring a match the Giants won by 75 points".
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Yes Yawny. I go for North. After decades of only having The Swans as a window to the world it is great to have another team in town. Better venue and better song is a bonus. People really underestimate how teamy weamy they are.
Yawn of the Dead
Guest
thanks but I don't want the Tiger horde to burn my house down
Seano
Roar Rookie
Yep they did. Now my boys play for Labrador the enemy of Southport but it would have been the right choice for the AFL. Southport are on there way to back to back flags in the NEAFL. They have a club house that every one of the 600,000 people on the Gold Coast have been too, heck it even has its own hotel for opposing players. They have tons of money and there home ground is on a tram line 2 stops from the Southport CBD and 4 stops from Surfers. Compare that to Carrara in the middle of nowhere and you see the issue. They even play in white so they don’t need a clash jumper. All the AFL had to give up was control. They couldn’t.
XI
Roar Guru
If you're on Facebook and haven't already you should join the GWS fan chat group. A fun place to chat about footy with real passionate people. Building slowly can mean a stronger foundation.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
I hope Toby Green never changes
Gyfox
Roar Rookie
To counter your comment about Gold Coast - unlike GWS, there already existed an Aussie Rules culture up there. Didn’t Southport apply for the licence once? And Southern Qld is not the rugby league heartland it once was.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
They've been murdered by Victorian umpires in recent finals series, so I can't blame them for getting a bit grumpy.
Yawn of the Dead
Guest
I think you can say "carrot" on here? The Giants need to tap more into the non-Swans. Many of us up here support teams from other cities. We went to the Swans in the 80s and 90s because we love footy. Then the Swans got good. Smug. Virtuous. Monopolistic. The minute the Giants came in, they became, by definition, my second team. For a number of reasons: 1. They aren't the Swans 2. They represent the non-elite part of Sydney 3. They aren't the Swans 4. I want our code to be successful, especially in NRL heartland 5. Sheedy 6. They aren't the Swans 7. Their stadium is great 8. Games at their stadium are fun. Intimate. Suburban. 9. Because people in Melbourne hate them. I love Melbourne. But I don't live there. 10. Because (like all clubs these days), they do fantastic things with kids, footy clubs, schools, indigenous reconciliation, multiculturalism. 11. Because so many people are convinced they will fail. How would they know? When have we created a team in these circumstances before? 12 Because they aren't the Swans.
Marty Gleason
Roar Guru
Also legitimising: their awesome song! And I forgot to include Heath Shaw and his loose grip on reality in my list of c-s. FML.