How did the AFL get the Giants so right?!

[Damon_3388]

They just had so much support early on they could live through horrendous Sheedy stuff-ups like making Scully (and dad) their marquee million $ man. The Ablett deal at GC pales in comparison to that waste of money.

But again, the fact that GWS was allowed to pillage the Demons list, when the Dees (like the Tiges) were already on their knees and facing years of no improvement thanks to GC/GWS draft concessions...

It tells you that GWS was truly the AFLs team in a way GC never was. The AFL wasn't going to bomb in Sydney.

They took one player from Melbourne, and eventually gave them a former top-3 draft pick (Dom Tyson) as well. Hardly "pillaging".

 

[madmug]

They looked to Richmond for inspiration.

If thet did, then they'd surely be waiting another 17 years for a flag.?

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

Just dropped 30k on GWS. Easiest 90k winnings I've made

 

[Boomerfan99]

Just dropped 30k on GWS. Easiest 90k winnings I've made

Fair dinkum???

 

[Brunswick Trap King]

Fair dinkum???

Surprises Sportsbet haven't banned me after I just stole 90k off them.

 

[le dominateur]

Trying hard to like them but that orange & charcoal really sucks

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

Gc hired mkenna, where as Gws hired Mark Williams as an assistant, he had experience at port adelaide building a team from the ground up.

Then there's Kevin sheedy.

It's not rocket science.

 

[raskolnikov]

Ablett was a cancer at the club.

 

[Americanpies]

Ablett was a cancer at the club.

Can't blame Ablett.

Who were the other players they brought in?

Nathan Bock - Broken leg, never recovered
Karmichael Hunt - Drug problems
Nathan Krakouer - Took his money, played one season and left
Daniel Harris - Took his money, played 11 games and left
Danny Stanley - Delisted after 5 years
Jarred Brennan - Another guy that took his big pay check and retired after 3 years, never reached his potential
Josh Fraser - Only played for 2 years, was at the end anyway.
Campbell Brown - Broke teammates Jaw in a punch on at a club, and was delisted

Jarrod Harbrow - Still there
Michael Rischitelli - Just retired

How could you build a team around this absolute load of trash?

 

[Yojimbo]

People always use the population of Tasmania against them, but at least it's a football state with genuine
love and deep history around football. GWS and Gold Coast have both struggled to get a toe in to a
market where the population may be great, but there are probably more rusted on football fans in
Tasmania. Sydney and Brisbane have to win for the people to come out and both clubs have battled a
little despite some success their crowds fluctuate tremendously. Even Fremantle are yet to win a flag
despite being in football heartland, but at least they have support. Both teams have tried and are trying
their guts out to grow the game in hostile environments, but they are faced with the same reality as all
the other teams only one team wins the flag each year and even they are trying to get better.

 

[Colonial]

People always use the population of Tasmania against them, but at least it's a football state with genuine
love and deep history around football. GWS and Gold Coast have both struggled to get a toe in to a
market where the population may be great, but there are probably more rusted on football fans in
Tasmania. Sydney and Brisbane have to win for the people to come out and both clubs have battled a
little despite some success their crowds fluctuate tremendously. Even Fremantle are yet to win a flag
despite being in football heartland, but at least they have support. Both teams have tried and are trying
their guts out to grow the game in hostile environments, but they are faced with the same reality as all
the other teams only one team wins the flag each year and even they are trying to get better.

A dogs fan taking a shot. Stunned.

Swans were woeful this year and were avging over 30k. Not to give them props but they are doing better than say the dogs who have how many derbies to boost home crowds?

Giants are an 8 year old club in a region that had zero fans. That has now changed and by a lot.
Having the Giants and Suns does not stop Tassie getting a team

 

[Yojimbo]

A dogs fan taking a shot. Stunned.

That was a tip of the hat to how difficult a task both teams faced, not a shot.

 

[Professor Knowall]

1st - A board that functions
2nd - Stable coaching
3rd - Not actively seeking guns for hire ( i.e. Ablett) and focused on the draft and player development.
4th - They learned from the failed izzy experiment
5th - Have kept a core group, Cogs, Davies ect... to build a team around
6th - Good deal makers in the back ground

A very good, succinct summation.
In other threads, I and others have highlighted the Giants good recruiting compared to the Suns poor choices (they even overlooked local boy Dane Zorko at Southport). Another thing is that the Giants have traded far better, bargaining hard to get high draft picks for players they've let go (e.g. Treloar, Shiel) whereas the Suns have let go of players cheaply (e.g Caddy, Prestia). Their staff tha do these things just don't seem to care enough, whereas the Giants do.

 

[Goomba1973]

A very good, succinct summation.
In other threads, I and others have highlighted the Giants good recruiting compared to the Suns poor choices (they even overlooked local boy Dane Zorko at Southport). Another thing is that the Giants have traded far better, bargaining hard to get high draft picks for players they've let go (e.g. Treloar, Shiel) whereas the Suns have let go of players cheaply (e.g Caddy, Prestia). Their staff tha do these things just don't seem to care enough, whereas the Giants do.

Giving up pick 2 for Lachie Weller is a prime example of poor deal making.

 

[Monkey King]

Uncontracted player signings, draft selections and value trading.

I can’t speak much for the internal stuff I don’t know about, but GWS seems far more stable, with only one planned succession coaching change, while Gold Coast have already sacked two coaches. And GWS haven’t had the type of whispers about issues with their culture that GC have.

 

[BigVic]

Not tying up Buddy on a long term contract

 

[QuietB]

Ablett was a cancer at the club.

Has Ablett ever held a leadership position at Geelong? I don’t remember even being a vice captain?

GWS have tried to build a “club”. Sheedy deserves a lot of credit for this.

GC have never had any sense of club. It was either Ablett going beserk or nothing. Now it is all nothing.

 

[flamethrower]

You can't compare the 2 clubs - the Suns had ONE clear year with limited concessions. The GIANTS were introduced the next year where the AFL learned from the failings with the Suns, and gave GWS a heap more concessions over multiple seasons.

The Suns were doomed as soon as the AFL introduced a 2nd expansion team the next season. New teams need to introduced in the same year with the same concessions, or at least 5 years apart (as shown by expansion team examples in the United States).

 

[Marcel Proust]

exactly the same draft picks as the suns 1,2,3,5,7,9,11,13,15 (with the additional 4 mini draft picks over 2 years, which we had to trade - and which we traded for picks instead of the offered spuds & journeymen some clubs expected us to take - would you take Robbie Nahas or pick 4 for Jeager O'Meara?)

so, No, not even close to "twice" the number of picks the suns got.

 

[Gameova_]

Recruiting ready made players who were still in their prime helped a lot

 

[Colonial]

Issue?

 

[threesixpio]

Even though my team is against them this weekend, even I was overwhelmed by how emotional the scenes were after the Collingwood match for them. One for the ages, no doubt.

But how did the AFL get this team so right?

The theme song, team colours and logo are killer.

The drafted and retained players really well, but I can’t really figure it out? How have the Giants been so successful whilst GC are complete and utter trash?

Should have won two flags by now with that stupidly good list.

How could they get is so WRONG

 

[Colonial]

You can't compare the 2 clubs - the Suns had ONE clear year with limited concessions. The GIANTS were introduced the next year where the AFL learned from the failings with the Suns, and gave GWS a heap more concessions over multiple seasons.

The Suns were doomed as soon as the AFL introduced a 2nd expansion team the next season. New teams need to introduced in the same year with the same concessions, or at least 5 years apart (as shown by expansion team examples in the United States).

You lot keep saying a heap more and double the concessions etc.

It's absolute garbage.

Suns had 1st crack and landed the best player in the game at the time and pretty much every star was locked up as soon as they happened.

Picks wise yeah we had more pick 1s but we finished last multiple times to earn it after the start up.

 

[PetterdHoisted]

They took one player from Melbourne, and eventually gave them a former top-3 draft pick (Dom Tyson) as well. Hardly "pillaging".

They grabbed the player that the Demons got for finishing last in the last untainted draft for half a decade.

In the end it was a terrible move by GWS, but the fact that it was allowed to happen in the first place was disgraceful.

Rich and Melb faced years mired at the bottom while GC/GWS got all the draft picks, then Melb had to cop that too. Wrong.

 

[Colonial]

Should have won two flags by now with that stupidly good list.

How could they get is so WRONG

Lol