News Giants in the Media

[MelbourneGWS]

Given that the club is contracted to play 3 games in Manuka till at least 2032, would the club seriously consider moving one of the 8 Engie Stadium games to the SCG during the interim? Our previous chairman mooted this option, and it does not seem to have got any traction? I think the best option is maybe (as a couple have mentioned) to have our derby with the Swans in SCG during the Easter Show period?

 

[Giant Strides]

I think the best option is maybe (as a couple have mentioned) to have our derby with the Swans in SCG during the Easter Show period?

Which usually happens, and did this year. The Swans home game. Or are you (& others) meaning to play both games at the SCG in that Easter Show blackout period?

 

[Colonial]

Which usually happens, and did this year. The Swans home game. Or are you (& others) meaning to play both games at the SCG in that Easter Show blackout period?

No to moving our derby game.

 

[Colonial]

Given that the club is contracted to play 3 games in Manuka till at least 2032, would the club seriously consider moving one of the 8 Engie Stadium games to the SCG during the interim? Our previous chairman mooted this option, and it does not seem to have got any traction? I think the best option is maybe (as a couple have mentioned) to have our derby with the Swans in SCG during the Easter Show period?

No to losing another Showgrounds game.

Contracts down mean squat these days, there’s always an out.

 

[3207]

No to losing another Showgrounds game.

Contracts down mean squat these days, there’s always an out.

Not so true in business mate. Playing contracts are a bit different

 

[Giant YoYo]

The article is from April 29, 2023 - https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/th...ant-afl-to-lift-its-game-20230427-p5d3nl.html

So concerned is the AFL about the fading impact of the Giants that it has not ruled out moving all Sydney derbies to the SCG in future.

September 2, 2022 - https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/bi...-bid-to-boost-low-crowds-20220825-p5bcny.html

The Giants have ruled out taking home games into enemy territory at the SCG, but Greater Western Sydney chief executive Dave Matthews admits the club has major work to do over the summer to boost their dwindling crowd numbers.

But an off-field review is also under way after GWS attracted an average of only 6102 fans to their six home games at Giants Stadium, having barely played at all in Sydney without crowd restrictions over the previous two seasons due to the pandemic.

That figure doesn’t include the 25,572 fans who watched the round-one derby against the Swans at Accor Stadium, or the 39,216 who watched their four games at Canberra’s Manuka Oval this year - which, at an average of 9804, is more than they got at their usual Olympic Park base.

The dip in interest comes despite a record membership tally this year of more than 30,000, which reflects a poor member turnout rate. It shows how critical sustained on-field success is for the Giants to build a wide following in a market dominated by rugby league and still largely unfamiliar with the AFL - and how easily they can fall off the map if they’re losing.

Last month, chairman Tony Shepherd floated the radical idea of playing home games against high-drawing Victorian opposition at the SCG, during an interview on 3AW Radio in which he admitted their crowds had been “a long way off the pace” this year.

But Matthews effectively dismissed any prospect of the Giants taking games there, and said it was only raised during a club “strategy day” as another potential venue option during the Easter Show period when Giants Stadium is off-limits to the club for six weeks each year.

This structural challenge, as Matthews put it, makes it difficult to build visibility and momentum in Sydney through the early part of the season - particularly if they are struggling on field by the time they are able to return to Giants Stadium.
“The short answer is not very seriously at all,” Matthews said when asked how seriously GWS was looking at the SCG.

“We had a strategy day recently ... we just decided to pose some big questions for ourselves, just to challenge ourselves, and that was one of a number. It doesn’t come from a strong desire to play anywhere other than Giants Stadium. It comes from a position of, where do you play when Giants Stadium [is] unavailable?”

COVID-19 hit at the worst possible time for the Giants, who had competed in their first AFL grand final just a few months before the virus began spreading around the world - then not only were they robbed of the chance to build on that momentum, they immediately began struggling on-field, which players have previously attributed to extended time spent in interstate hubs.
“I think the frustration for us is ... we had a terrific trajectory heading towards the end of 2019. In some ways, our growth has been stunted as a consequence,” Matthews said.

“But we know that the appetite and the audience is there, you’ve only got to look at the fact that we broke our membership record, we’ve got over 32,000 members. That’s a great show of support and shows the connection people might have with the club.

“We’ve done a lot of research, and so has the AFL, on the sort of hesitancy that I guess has been created. But also, I think, to some degree, there’s been a change in habits for families. We’re doing a fair bit of research and sharpening our focus with our fixture requests in terms of, what is our best time slot? What work do we need to do to create a great entertainment option at the ground, as opposed to sitting at home? There’s a lot of work to do on all of that.”

Reading between the lines the Easter Show problem is not going away, particularly with how obvious the problem has become this season and the media attention it has received this season. Therefore, I do not see the prospect of an SCG game going away unless attendances increase.

We have not recovered to pre-covid crowds and I am curious as to where those that used to attend games have gone?

Our struggles play into the hands of other sports and teams that do not wish to see us do well. We had a hostile media (which is slowly changing), other sports that potentially don't wish us to do well and we haven't particularly been embraced by other Aussie Rules/AFL fans (seems to be changing for the better nowadays).

The other Sydney team did not seem particularly supportive of us, either.

Phil Davis

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' comments from this story pre-derby 19 days ago.

“A lot of distaste”: Davis on GWS/Sydney rivalry and how Giants shook ‘little brother’ tag

“I think there was a lot of distaste between the two.”

www.sen.com.au

“Then you start hearing the backdrop of what (clubs are saying) … the backroom politics that go on too, when that starts to get fed through and you hear what they're trying to do to undermine your whole club, it adds another layer.

“When you realise that you're threatening their territory, that's when you know you've landed.

“For us, when we started to win big games, they were trying to undermine what we were trying to grow in Sydney and that's when you knew.

Not sure if this has changed but I am not sensing a lot of warmth there.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/media-street-gws-and-swans-offfield-feud-fires-up-as-3aw-faces-listeners-rage/news-story/f2e7bb5f2edfbbb47c61205be51faa9c

The bad blood between Sydney and GWS continues to boil over with the media departments getting in on the act.

It’s no secret that the two clubs don’t like each other and this was again evident this week as the AFL launched Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

The league’s plan was to bring all the clubs together to celebrate the Indigenous round and in Melbourne on Monday players from all 10 Victorian clubs came together for a photo shoot.

In Adelaide there was a representative from the Crows and Power together for a media conference. Not in Sydney.

When the organising process began around Sir Doug Nicholls Round the Giants reached out to the Swans to figure out a time which suited both parties.

Instead they were told to go and jump in the Harbour.

It turns out the GWS Giants social media team, who are universally regarded as the best, and most cheeky, in the business, may have pushed the envelope a bit too hard in the lead-up to the recent Battle Of The Bridge.

A video highlighting Swans coach John Longmire not pronouncing the name of Giants midfielder Stephen Coniglio

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properly didn’t go down well at the SCG while there were also some veiled references to the Sam Wicks affair in other posts.

The wash-up is separate media conferences on Thursday. A Swans player at 10am while Toby Bedford

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Toby Bedford

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and Harry Rowston, plus two of the Giants netballers, will be available at 1.15pm at GWS headquarters.

 

[dlanod]

Not so true in business mate. Playing contracts are a bit different

It is kind of true in business too, but it usually boils down to how much the breakee wants to be paid out to allow the breakage or renegotiation.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

No to losing another Showgrounds game.

Contracts down mean squat these days, there’s always an out.

I don’t think that there is an out till at least 2032. The club, the ACT Government and the AFL seem happy with the current arrangements and there’s no move to change the status quo. Only if Engie Stadium is getting sellouts by 2032, might there be a move to change, but Giants are also Canberra’s AFL team.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Which usually happens, and did this year. The Swans home game. Or are you (& others) meaning to play both games at the SCG in that Easter Show blackout period?

I don’t think the club should move out derby to the SCG or for that matter ACCOR.

 

[Bjo187]

It's interesting, if the giants were launched as simply a second Sydney team playing out of the scg, you'd assume their attendances would be at least double of what they currently are. However, the potential to become a massive club isn't as great as being based in western sydney. I'm sure the afl contemplated this at the time.

 

[Colonial]

It's interesting, if the giants were launched as simply a second Sydney team playing out of the scg, you'd assume their attendances would be at least double of what they currently are.

Nope. We aren’t Melbourne we need more to differentiate the clubs other than the names and colours.
There would be less fans for a Sydney 2.

However, the potential to become a massive club isn't as great as being based in western sydney. I'm sure the afl contemplated this at the time.

They won’t be a massive club in Western Sydney being part time.

 

[Colonial]

I don’t think that there is an out till at least 2032. The club, the ACT Government and the AFL seem happy with the current arrangements and there’s no move to change the status quo. Only if Engie Stadium is getting sellouts by 2032, might there be a move to change, but Giants are also Canberra’s AFL team.

Will never be a club for either being part time in both.

 

[Colonial]

Not so true in business mate. Playing contracts are a bit different

Maybe, seems in business as well if the dollars and talk happens, maybe a “you’re team 20 2 years after Tassie are in” kid of thing to sweaten the deal.

 

[3207]

Maybe, seems in business as well if the dollars and talk happens, maybe a “you’re team 20 2 years after Tassie are in” kid of thing to sweaten the deal.

Team 20 should be in Balmain….

 

[Colonial]

Team 20 should be in Balmain….

Bye Giants.

 

[Colonial]

Bye Giants.

 

[BarryAglett]

View attachment 1997752

Richmond are relocating!?
That Punt Rd thing wasn't really working out.

 

[3207]

View attachment 1997752

Would still get VFL nuffies on here saying “ermagherd who would want live in Balmain?”

Like they think our players are contractually obligated to live in Raby, Kearns and Bidwill.

 

[dlanod]

Raby, Kearns and Bidwill

Shit, I've lived here for 20 years at this point and never heard of any of these.

 

[3207]

s**t, I've lived here for 20 years at this point and never heard of any of these.

I’ve been in Melbourne 12 years and I’m trying to forget them !

 

[Colonial]

s**t, I've lived here for 20 years at this point and never heard of any of these.

Bidwill makes MtDruitt seem up market.

 

[GWS Goose]

Nope. We aren’t Melbourne we need more to differentiate the clubs other than the names and colours.
There would be less fans for a Sydney 2.

They won’t be a massive club in Western Sydney being part time.

Agree, there is no way people would have just started supporting a new Sydney team if it wasnt associated with the West.
I have no idea who would do that.
I think the crowd thing is massively overstated. It is nowhere near as important in the scheme of things at this stage as is being made out to be.
AFL is not going to be the number 1 game in Western Sydney, nor is it trying to be.
When I worked in sports I remember hearing something that stuck with me, the long term viability of a club is linked to it's interested parties not its habitually involved members (although the more of the first will lead to more of the second). The logic is that there are lots of competing priorities it is difficult to get someone to make their team the main priority. If you are able to get large amount of people interest and involved that leads to long term sustainability. The most extreme examples are things like the Lakers or Man Utd where as a percentage of their fans that are habitually involved is virtually none. Less than half of people that identify as lakers fans watch more than half their games and almost all of their fans have seen them play live less than 5 times.
At this stage the club is still in the process of getting interested parties, all the adults in Western Sydney already had the swans as their team if they had one from a local hometown thing.
The club is trying to get the next generation of western sydney kids to choose the Giants as their team they are interested in and are starting to make headway.
35K members is great. I have a number (5 or 6) of mates who call themselves Giants fans and buy a 3 game membership who intend to go to 3 games a year but normally make 1. They watch the game if i is convenient but own a jersey and where a hat and a Giants fans. 2 other mates started that way but are probably more committed now.
They are valuable to the club whether they sit in the stands each week or not.
We need to build more and more of those sorts of sports fans who are interested in the Giants and in doing so will be commercially successful long term.

 

[Giant Pete]

Everyone would do well to remember that for a good decade or more the swans couldn’t get 5000 to their home games.
It’s a generational thing.

 

[Colonial]

Everyone would do well to remember that for a good decade or more the swans couldn’t get 5000 to their home games.
It’s a generational thing.

Even longer part time. Swans weren’t.

 

[dlanod]

Even longer part time. Swans weren’t.

I think we all get it now. You're against the Giants only playing eight games in Sydney and you think it hampers the Giants' uptake. I don't know that replying to every post with the same point over and again is going to do much to affect it given none of us are decision makers for the Giants.