Gold Coast and GWS has failed

[Giant YoYo]

I was in Sydney last weekend and saw way more Giants gear than I expected.

Admittedly, I was in eastern Sydney (Surry Hills), but I collectively saw more Giants gear than any single NRL team. Saw a few hats on Saturday, then more Giants merch again heading towards to City to Surf on Sunday. And my mate saw a group of guys in Giants merch leaving the pub singing Big Big Sound after beating Brisbane.

Not quite in Sydney where you'd want them, but way more than I'd expected in Sydney at all. And more than I've seen in Canberra (outside of when we're hosting a game).

Very happy to hear.

I've worn Giants gear regularly when I've been to the city/inner city and surrounds and I wear Giants gear often when out west. It's interesting the people that will recognise the Giant 'G' on my hat (it's very inconspicuous, I find, only footy fans will recognise the G) when I wear it and get a reaction from them, skews younger. Generally always get a "Go the Giants", "Carn the Giants" etc. Not exclusively in the city, though.

I'd say fans from all around Sydney would be good, though. The Giants should be an option to footy fans and I'm glad they're embracing the Giants. Thankfully, we no longer live in a time where footy fans are tied by the closest club or the club in their area. I didn't choose the Giants because I live out in the western suburbs so I'm sure we'll get fans from all around.

Living west of Parramatta and east of Blacktown, I see plenty of Giants support in my local area when doing cardio in the park. On most occasions I will see adults and kids donning Giants gear.

I even see a local footy club represented. I see more Giants in my area by a significantly larger margin than the Swans but I have no doubt Swans would be very well represented given how long Swans have been around for. I imagine different areas of the city will reflect different levels of support. Given I'm fairly close to the Stadium/ Olympic Park it's no wonder why I see Giants represented here as often as I do. Always happy to see even more Giants in the area, though

I have a mate in Meadowbank (much closer to the stadium than I) and he always reports seeing plenty of Giants in his area when doing cardio.

Noticed that the trend is to wear Giants gear when doing cardio or sporty activities rather than just going out and about or to the supermarket etc. Will note, the western Sydney location where I saw the most amount of Giants support when out and about is Rouse Hill Town Centre. People there seem to don Giants gear with pride when going out and about, great to see and hopefully takes off in other parts of the city, similarly to your experience of the inner city.

Sydneysiders in general don't don their clubs gear as much, I find, but I've endeavoured to incorporate Giants gear into what I wear for the most part, where I can. Not always but regularly enough.

 

[Giant YoYo]

The issue remains that most of the interest in Aussie Rules in Sydney is still in the eastern suburbs, North Shore, and inner west.

The Swans have done a great job being able to focus on these areas, in particular when they moved to the SCG.

A lot of those areas are areas which had former footy clubs over a hundred years ago when footy was popular in Sydney, and no doubt there may have been some footy interest which remained when footy popularity declined post world war 2.

Having an in-focus area is crucial. The west is much bigger compared to the Eastern Suburbs, North Shore and Inner West.

Giants appear to have tried to do all of Western Sydney, which they have now changed to focusing on areas closest to the stadium.

The club said yesterday that a significant portion of our membership is academy/recruits which is a very good sign. These kids would have grown up with the Giants and being members, given they're more likely to be lifelong members, they're less likely to cease being a member.

Plenty of these kids that have known the Giants will be coming of age in the coming years and will be taking the mantle as the next generation of supporters so the trajectory should be on the up in due course.

Not many Sydneysiders like going to Sydney Olympic Park in general. Hopefully Metro West and the Tram will breathe life into the area and cause an uptick in attendance but it's a way off. Would rather a large increase in attendance before then, though.

 

[errant bounce]

The club said yesterday that a significant portion of our membership is academy/recruits which is a very good sign. These kids would have grown up with the Giants and being members, given they're more likely to be lifelong members, they're less likely to cease being a member.

How is most of the supporter base being people who played for the club a good thing? that's an extremely small market and an already captured one.

 

[Rob]

Agree has built up. Why would they start both these games so early? GWS should be at 3.20pm

Is this a Sydney thing to hate Saturday arvo? I note the NRL abandoned the slot ages ago, presumably due to a lack of popularity.

It is a bit of a pain I'll admit given its much more of a working day than it used to be.

 

[WesternSydneyHawk]

Giants appear to have tried to do all of Western Sydney, which they have now changed to focusing on areas closest to the stadium.

Which is not a bad strategy, and in hindsight probably what the Giants should have probably done from the get-go.

I mean, you just need to look at the skyline of neighbouring suburbs, like Rhodes and Wentworth Point, and Olympic Park itself, to see the population surge. More new apartment towers than you can count either under construction, or recently completed.

Same deal with places like Homebush, Meadowbank, Strathfield, and Burwood.

And it's only going to continue.

Both major parties have basically made it clear that the area around the new North Strathfield and North Burwood metro stations will be a free-for-all for developers.

And that's not even mentioning all the apartment towers that will soon be going up on what's now Rosehill Race Track.

Many of the residents of those suburbs are migrants from places like South Korea and Hong Kong, and don't have deep connections to either of the rugby codes.

So if GWS is going to remain at Olympic Park, building support in that part of Sydney is likely to be a good long-term strategy.

 

[speedpeck23]

The issue remains that most of the interest in Aussie Rules in Sydney is still in the eastern suburbs, North Shore, and inner west.

And just by personal observation, you're as likely to see someone in Swans merchandise in Western Sydney as you are someone who supports GWS.

I have no doubt that there's enough interest in the AFL in Sydney to support two clubs.

And my suspicion is if GWS became the "Sydney Giants" and played at the SCG, at least in the short-to-medium term, their attendances will go up.

If attendances don't start picking up with the Western Sydney Metro and Parra light rail phase two, it's worth asking the question whether the Giants should remain in Western Sydney?

And if so, whether a new home ground closer to Parra itself and a name change to the "Western Sydney Giants" might help to grow their support?

The reality is one of the biggest factors driving AFL support in is the generational effect of people from VIC,SA WA relocating to Sydney who are more likely to live on the North Shore, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West ....for work, family reasons etc....their kids grow up in Sydney with a bit more of a connection to AFL......and it builds from there.

Anybody under 45 in Sydney wouldn't know a time when the Swans weren't in Sydney.. The GIANTS have a much harder gig.....but they are slowly growing....their profile in Sydney will be defined more by the fact that they are an AFL team who are "NOT THE SWANS"

 

[The Educator]

The reality is one of the biggest factors driving AFL support in is the generational effect of people from VIC,SA WA relocating to Sydney who are more likely to live on the North Shore, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West ....for work, family reasons etc....their kids grow up in Sydney with a bit more of a connection to AFL......and it builds from there.

Anybody under 45 in Sydney wouldn't know a time when the Swans weren't in Sydney.. The GIANTS have a much harder gig.....but they are slowly growing....their profile in Sydney will be defined more by the fact that they are an AFL team who are "NOT THE SWANS"

That's a valid point

Should note though that, in the Gemba report NRL clubs put got done a few years back, only half of NSW AFL fans supported Sydney teams (only slightly more than QLD).....

https://origin.go.theaustralian.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Gemba_NRL-Expansion-Analysis_Final-Report_170621.pdf

....this suggests significant retention of expats by their original teams

 

[WesternSydneyHawk]

Should note though that, in the Gemba report NRL clubs put got done a few years back, only half of NSW AFL fans supported Sydney teams (only slightly more than QLD).....

I definitely agree on this point

Not just ex-pats who kept their clubs, but also people who started following the AFL before the Giants were formed and didn't like the Swans.

And don't forget that NSW also includes Wagga, Albury, and the Riverina, so there'll also be people cheering on a hometown hero at an interstate club.

Even within Sydney, there were apparently a significant of folks boarding the train in Western Sydney with red and white scarves a couple of weeks ago for the finals game against GWS.