A decision has to be made.

[Bjo187]

I know many on this forum has spent years of dedication, money and passion for the club. Respect!

This is purely my opinion and it doesn't mean to disagree with some posters here - I don't have concern about the direction of the GWS off the field.

Yes, it sucks about the Easter show. Yes, AFL draw isn't conducive. But the club can't realistically alter this. We can argue till the full time, but it is what it is.

AFL has a bigger issue to deal with its draw, equalisation for WA clubs. An issue that AFL has acknowledged. I don't think it will priotise GWS over WA clubs on this matter.

My final point is about how to measure success of the club offfield. What is your expectation/dream of GWS in terms of supporters/members /brand in Western Sydney? Can GWS surpass Parra or Penrith in terms of support? I doubt this. Can GWS be considered a success offfield if good finance and small but steady growth in memberships every year?

I would be over the moon if GWS can become Melbourne Storm of the Western Sydney! A boutique club with a mix of dedicated supporters and casuals enjoying sustained success onfield.

The giants are already ahead of storm at an equivalent time, without the news corp media pumping them up like they did the storm and in fact they try to suppress any giants growth.

People need to not buy into the lack of knowledge in the Melbourne media about Sydney and the hit job the Sydney media are going to be doing on the giants, because they don't want a swans 2.0. This was clearly evident in the past few weeks pre grand final.

Stick tough, ride it out, the clubs membership, attendances and social media followers are up this year and tracking nicely, the new approach from the afl with Dillon in charge is so much better than when gillion was leader, we are already seeing that year one, let alone in a few years time.

Canberra will become team 20 so that deal will end, which will align perfectly to when the giants have built enough of a core to stand on their own in Sydney. Funnily enough it also aligns with when the transport to Olympic park will be finished, which will also see a boost in crowds.

Colonial I'm disappointed if you have bought into the agenda and are jumping off, as that's the exact purpose of their agenda. Look at the actual data and you'll see some positives this year for the clubs growth, that have them tracking the best that have since covid hit.

 

[Colonial]

This damn club and site.

First, there is no “jumping off” or ditching the club.
I stand by what I said and believe it 100%. Even if I decide to can the membership I will always support the club. So no, not jumping off.

Second, being frustrated with an agenda, and there is one by both the NSW “sports” media and the VFL media, as well as the half assed efforts of the club board/AFL does not mean I’m buying into the media agenda.

Third, have been convinced by the better half to keep fighting the fight online, for some reason she enjoys me pissed off at online rubbish. She is a weirdo.

Be prepared for me to be even more vocal & irrational about Part time Sydney.

 

[Orange crush]

This damn club and site.

First, there is no “jumping off” or ditching the club.
I stand by what I said and believe it 100%. Even if I decide to can the membership I will always support the club. So no, not jumping off.

Second, being frustrated with an agenda, and there is one by both the NSW “sports” media and the VFL media, as well as the half assed efforts of the club board/AFL does not mean I’m buying into the media agenda.

Third, have been convinced by the better half to keep fighting the fight online, for some reason she enjoys me pissed off at online rubbish. She is a weirdo.

Be prepared for me to be even more vocal & irrational about Part time Sydney.

Sook

 

[Vic pokiesmon]

One question I have. Is it true that we don't request Friday night games at Engie because of the hassles with traffic in the area on Fridays?

 

[dlanod]

One question I have. Is it true that we don't request Friday night games at Engie because of the hassles with traffic in the area on Fridays?

Haven't heard that but I've definitely heard we prefer Saturday arvo games because it's easier to get families in and the local Aussie Rules comps are predominantly on Sunday.

 

[Colonial]

One question I have. Is it true that we don't request Friday night games at Engie because of the hassles with traffic in the area on Fridays?

It wouldn’t surprise me.
Any games held for any sport outside Sydney city usually get terrible crowds. Our city is too much of a bottleneck to the east for work.
Hopefully the second airport spreads that out.

 

[Giant Gutsache]

One question I have. Is it true that we don't request Friday night games at Engie because of the hassles with traffic in the area on Fridays?

Also tough for opposition fans to fly in without skipping work.

 

[Giant YoYo]

Seems we don't have any recent data of Friday night. I'm even more interested in public holiday weekend games in Sydney.

Would be interested about numbers or the reasons why. Does our base go elsewhere?

Although, I can seemingly rest assured there won't be any Giants home games around public holidays / public holiday weekends and can make plans accordingly.

 

[Danny88]

17000 is the break even point at Engie and approximately 25000 at the SCG as explained to me. We lease Engie for the 8 games so we are losing money everywhere except Manuka

No way the breakeven is 3/4 full

I don’t know what the engie deal is but when we were with spotless it was 6k

 

[Vic pokiesmon]

It wouldn’t surprise me.
Any games held for any sport outside Sydney city usually get terrible crowds. Our city is too much of a bottleneck to the east for work.
Hopefully the second airport spreads that out.
[/QUOTE

If you look at our draw compared to the swans I think they had,a few Friday night home games and a Thursday home game this year.We didn't have any Friday games.Most people had us finishing above the Swans,before the fixture was announced and neutrals enjoyed our style of play .So how does that change in the future compared to this year?..Engie is fine as a stadium but the precinct is the issue in growing the crowds for big games on a Friday night .It isn't ever going to attract the after work crowd like the scg does or the walk in factor like Melbourne based clubs,Gabba or Adelaide oval does.Even Manuka has this and connects well with community there.This isn't to say we aren't improving and connecting in Western Sydney it's just the precinct around Engie..It's same as Carrara for the Suns.

We will always be alligned with Western Sydney just simply because we started our evolution in Western Sysney and will always have our training base there.We can still be Sydney and have a Canberra connection.Hurt Hawthorn with Tasmania?Jesus look at that red and white team.What are they ?40 years in Sydney celebration a few years ago ,150 years the South Melbourne Swans this year etc..Half Melbourne half Sydney.Still have Swans from South Melbourne in there name and colors..Recreated Bloods name to suit themselves when they realised the culture wasn't cutting it in early 2000.They do all this as obviously they want supporters from everywhere to watch ,buy membership and watch on TV etc...Why I say this is there not pure Sydney and they know it .While we are new as time passes we will always be more Sydney than the Red and white team and deep down every red and white supporter knows this..Its actually our big selling point moving forward...I say this as a South Melbourne supporter as a kid who used to go into changing room in mid 80s with swans officials..Been in Sydney 15 years and supported Giants since there birth.I didn't anticipate supporting Giants and i cant stand the other team now in so many ways . .Its Underated how good it is supporting a team from there birth and watch it grow compared to adopting a team after they've already won premierships etc.Love it and love the Giants.

Clubs evolve in different ways over time.Only West Coast,Melbourne ,Adelaide,Geelong play where there name suggests they should play..My opinion is in Stage 1 Giants have done a lot really well as a club.Personally I think we needed to call ourselves Western Sydney or GWS at the start as we are called and as I said earlier we will always be alligned with Western Sydney now.I think however we should be simply called the Sydney Giants in future..I don't think the name Greater Western resonates .Keep it simple.Embrace the Sydney Sydney rivalry .It could be easily the biggest rivalry in Australian sport...Lose the battle of Bridge that's a Stupid Sheeds term(.Love Sheeds though).Call it battle of Sydney....Look at US sports- Clippers and ,
Lakers,Yankees and Mets ,Giants and Jets or soccer Man City and ,Man United,Inter Milan and Ac Milan.While I understand this may piss off a few people who wouldn't think we are Western Sydney enough and we are selling out we would also attract a wider range of supporters by being Sydney Giants...Obviously Swans would object to this and I'm not sure if it was the deal for us coming into the afl that Swans could only use the Sydney name but the Afl should overule and say u want to be the swans Bloods etc etc then the Giants should be allowed to call themselves Sydney .Also the AFL should over rule the swans and allow us to play a couple of SCG Friday night blockbusters a year..

 

[Colonial]

Vic pokiesmon could not disagree more on the Sydney Giants.

Sydney need a point of difference with their teams for the most part. If anything drop "Greater" and be 100% Western Sydney (I did warn you all )

 

[Giant YoYo]

Engie is fine as a stadium but the precinct is the issue in growing the crowds for big games on a Friday night .It isn't ever going to attract the after work crowd like the scg does or the walk in factor like Melbourne based clubs,Gabba or Adelaide oval does.Even Manuka has this and connects well with community there.This isn't to say we aren't improving and connecting in Western Sydney it's just the precinct around Engie..It's same as Carrara for the Suns.

What are your thoughts for the metro in 2032? I reckon a 15 minute trip from the city to Olympic Park or a 5 minute trip from Parramatta could be an attractive proposition in future.

I reckon Olympic Park will be transformed into quite the entertainment precinct once the metro is done.

The entertainment quarter was struggling from many years gone by but now seems to be quite busy and vibrant since the tram has opened. I reckon Sydney Olympic Park has the potential to be the premier entertainment precinct once the metro is done.

Personally I think we needed to call ourselves Western Sydney or GWS at the start as we are called and as I said earlier we will always be alligned with Western Sydney now.I think however we should be simply called the Sydney Giants in future..I don't think the name Greater Western resonate

Yep. We need to drop the excessively long name, it's four words which always gets relegated a three letter acronym (GWS) which is incredibly poor from a branding perspective.

Western Sydney Giants or Greater Sydney Giants would do me. I could live with either as long as we drop the GWS acronym.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Vic pokiesmon could not disagree more on the Sydney Giants.

Sydney need a point of difference with their teams for the most part. If anything drop "Greater" and be 100% Western Sydney (I did warn you all )

As a hypothetical, would you accept one game at the SCG (as a stopgap through the Easter Show), if it meant you could have 10 games at Engie?

 

[Colonial]

As a hypothetical, would you accept one game at the SCG (as a stopgap through the Easter Show), if it meant you could have 10 games at Engie?

I think ive said elsewhere that it should be a double header at the SCG celebrating the history of the sport in Sydney and have all the grassroots and AFL Sydney Clubs there with booths around the area. A celebration.

 

[Vic pokiesmon]

Vic pokiesmon could not disagree more on the Sydney Giants.

Sydney need a point of difference with their teams for the most part. If anything drop "Greater" and be 100% Western Sydney (I did warn you all )

All cool.Its good fun to debate,and agree to disagree.There will always be a point of difference simply by where we are based now and where we were based from the very start like all clubs in Afl and sporting clubs around the world.

 

[Vic pokiesmon]

What are your thoughts for the metro in 2032? I reckon a 15 minute trip from the city to Olympic Park or a 5 minute trip from Parramatta could be an attractive proposition in future.

I reckon Olympic Park will be transformed into quite the entertainment precinct once the metro is done.

The entertainment quarter was struggling from many years gone by but now seems to be quite busy and vibrant since the tram has opened. I reckon Sydney Olympic Park has the potential to be the premier entertainment precinct once the metro is done.


Yep. We need to drop the excessively long name, it's four words which always gets relegated a three letter acronym (GWS) which is incredibly poor from a branding perspective.

Western Sydney Giants or Greater Sydney Giants would do me. I could live with either as long as we drop the GWS acronym.

Good points.I didnt factor in the metro in 32.Whatever they do to improve the precinct makes sense...Few games where there were about 8000 people at a game i still spent an hour getting out of the car park

 

[Colonial]

All cool.Its good fun to debate,and agree to disagree.There will always be a point of difference simply by where we are based now and where we were based from the very start like all clubs in Afl and sporting clubs around the world.

All for debate mate in here. We all want our club to grow, I don’t care if I’m wrong and we are packing out stadiums in Sydney and Canberra. Would be over the moon. But, well, we all know my thoughts there.

 

[BarryAglett]

I'm pretty sure those alternate team names were tossed around for a while.
The Swans may have kicked up a fuss about "Greater Sydney".
The "West/Western" name is used by 2 other teams so probably deemed undesirable for branding.

 

[Colonial]

I'm pretty sure those alternate team names were tossed around for a while.
The Swans may have kicked up a fuss about "Greater Sydney".
The "West/Western" name is used by 2 other teams so probably deemed undesirable for branding.

Western Sydney is a brand all to its own.

 

[BarryAglett]

Western Sydney is a brand all to its own.

Agree. I was speculating on the AFLs reasoning for not using the alternative names.

 

[Colonial]

Agree. I was speculating on the AFLs reasoning for not using the alternative names.

Victorians reasoning

 

[MelbourneGWS]

All for debate mate in here. We all want our club to grow, I don’t care if I’m wrong and we are packing out stadiums in Sydney and Canberra. Would be over the moon. But, well, we all know my thoughts there.

At the risk of waving the red flag to the bull (! ), we are already packing out Canberra. With the derby and the Opening Round also packed out, the issue is how do we pack out 6 of the remaining 8 games in Sydney? I think we are definitely having an upward trend and interest, and maybe better times and teams may get us there?

 

[MelbourneGWS]

I'm pretty sure those alternate team names were tossed around for a while.
The Swans may have kicked up a fuss about "Greater Sydney".
The "West/Western" name is used by 2 other teams so probably deemed undesirable for branding.

I thought that since 2018, we have been trying to brand ourselves as the GIANTS. Unfortunately some in the media still call us GWS which I think is the worst possible name for us.

 

[Colonial]

At the risk of waving the red flag to the bull (! ), we are already packing out Canberra. With the derby and the Opening Round also packed out, the issue is how do we pack out 6 of the remaining 8 games in Sydney? I think we are definitely having an upward trend and interest, and maybe better times and teams may get us there?

*cough full time Western Sydney *cough

 

[Bjo187]

I think at the moment they're likely keeping the 3 names to see where the club is at in another 5 to 10 years time.

If the growth is there in western sydney, they may feel comfortable to drop the greater at the end of this decade. If they don't see enough growth in western sydney itself, they might drop the western and just go Greater Sydney to try appeal to a greater area (remembering they are not allowed to be called just Sydney).

I've told this story before and don't mean to name drop or anything, but I think it's relevant. But I did have a conversation with one of the head honchos at the club early last year about this. I told them how much of a missed opportunity it was that every time in the media the team is mentioned, it's gws and doesn't even mention Sydney. They agreed and said 'yeah there have been a few suggestions, even nsw giants'. I thought to myself that sounds pretty shit, but instead I said, "doesn't it need to be western sydney or greater sydney?" To which they responded, 'greater sydney, hmm yeah never thought of that actually'. The fact that name hadn't even been considered surprised me. But overall this individual seemed to agree the gws name is not ideal, I also reminded them the gws name was meant to be dropped after 10 years, as mentioned by Dale Holmes in that giants podcast.