GWS in Canberra

[Canberra Pear]

no reason to play AFL there.

Think it will be 5k though.

Ahh damn, that is low.

The highest crowd the Gold Coast has drawn is 8,308. If Tom Wills was planned for ~10k, it'd create a nice intimate atmosphere for an annual game against the Suns. And it could be played in that big gap over the Easter Show.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

ABC’s estimate on how much state and territory governments are paying on average for an AFL match to be played in their jurisdictions. The source article is there for anyone interested as it’s part of a larger article on regional footy.

• Gather Round (9 games): $1,560,000 each
• Northern Territory (3 games in Darwin and Alice): $1,050,000 each
• Tasmania (8 games in Hobart and Launceston): $1,000,000 each
• ACT (3 games): $930,000 each
• Ballarat (2 games): $230,000 each

The AFL is playing at a tiny ground in a small town this weekend. They did the same thing 70 years ago

With games being played at Norwood Oval and the minuscule Mt Barker Oval, the professionalised AFL is nodding towards its origins in paddocks and fields in regional towns.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Canberra Pear]

ABC’s estimate on how much state and territory governments are paying on average for an AFL match to be played in their jurisdictions. The source article is there for anyone interested as it’s part of a larger article on regional footy.

• Gather Round (9 games): $1,560,000 each
• Northern Territory (3 games in Darwin and Alice): $1,050,000 each
• Tasmania (8 games in Hobart and Launceston): $1,000,000 each
• ACT (3 games): $930,000 each
• Ballarat (2 games): $230,000 each

The AFL is playing at a tiny ground in a small town this weekend. They did the same thing 70 years ago

With games being played at Norwood Oval and the minuscule Mt Barker Oval, the professionalised AFL is nodding towards its origins in paddocks and fields in regional towns.

www.abc.net.au

Very interesting, thanks!

I don't think it's as simple as cost per men's game, but it's still an interesting comparison.

For instance, Canberra gets 1 preseason, 1-2 AFLW matches, guernsey sponsorship, and much of that money goes back into the Canberra academy. I don't think Ballarat is getting anything like that for their $230k per game.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Very interesting, thanks!

I don't think it's as simple as cost per men's game, but it's still an interesting comparison.

For instance, Canberra gets 1 preseason, 1-2 AFLW matches, guernsey sponsorship, and much of that money goes back into the Canberra academy. I don't think Ballarat is getting anything like that for their $230k per game.

Thanks. I agree. To be fair the referenced ABC article did say in the fine print that NT, Tasmania, Ballarat and ACT also had AFLW matches. I presume since the Gather Round payments were only for AFL matches, ABC would have just divided the reported payments by the number of AFL matches played to get an approximate estimate for the jurisdictions. I also don’t know whether NT and Tasmania had similar sponsorship and pre-season deals that we have with the Giants.

 

[captainMyCaptain]

Just what were come to expect when it comes to Canberra

 

[Hendo_21]

Just what were come to expect when it comes to Canberra

Thats awesome, so good Canberra always gets around the team

 

[PaythePerryman]

Thats awesome, so good Canberra always gets around the team

Now we just need Canberra to actually make some noise. Everytime I've gone to a Canberra game it's very polite applause and that's about it.
Basics:
Stand and clap when the Giants kick a goal.
Yell BALL like a dickhead.
Use voice to cheer.

 

[dlanod]

Now we just need Canberra to actually make some noise. Everytime I've gone to a Canberra game it's very polite applause and that's about it.
Basics:
Stand and clap when the Giants kick a goal.
Yell BALL like a dickhead.
Use voice to cheer.

Make that stupid noise for throw ins!

 

[MelbourneGWS]

For those interested in stats, the game today against Brisbane will be our 31st game in Manuka - and the first under our new ten year agreement to play 3 games till 2032.
Whilst we have lost our last 7 games in Manuka (our last win was May 2019!), Manuka used to be a fortress during 2016-18, when we won 9 consecutive games.

Our 30 Canberra games over the 10 years (adjusting for Covid) comprised of the following opponents:

• 6 games: Western Bulldogs
• 4 games: Melbourne
• 3 games (5 teams): Fremantle, Geelong, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, St Kilda
• 1 game (5 teams): Adelaide, Brisbane, Hawthorn, Norths, Richmond
• Never played (5 teams): Sydney, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, West Coast

This year we are scheduled to play Brisbane, Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast. Compared to our overall 13 win-17 loss (43% win rate) Manuka record, our record against these teams in Manuka are:

• Brisbane (won 0 from 1 game)
• Gold Coast (won 2 from 3 games, including our historic first ever win in 2012)
• Western Bulldogs (won 2 from 6)

 

[MelbourneGWS]

There have been a total of 57 AFL games played in Canberra. The home teams for these games are below, with GWS hosting more than half the AFL games played in Canberra:

• GWS 30 games (2012-present)
• North Melbourne 18 games
• Western Bulldogs 5 games
• Melbourne 3 games
• There was also a game played in 1995 where Fitzroy hosted West Coast

Of these 57 AFL matches played for premiership points in the ACT, we have made the most appearances in Canberra:

• 30 games: GWS
• 19: Norths
• 12: Western Bulldogs, Sydney
• 8: Melbourne
• 6: Port Adelaide
• 5: Geelong
• 4: Fremantle, St Kilda, West Coast
• 3: Gold Coast
• 2: Adelaide
• 1: Brisbane, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Richmond, Fitzroy
• Never played in Canberra: Carlton, Essendon

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Will be interesting to see the crowd for this night game in our other home ground. It’s forecast to be cloudy and temperatures expected to be around 6-8 degrees.

Our crowds have averaged 10,372 for the 31 home games we have played in Canberra - this is slightly more than the 10,208 we have averaged for the 82 games in Giants Stadium (which has hosted Derbies and 3 final matches).

Our last match in Manuka against Brisbane during the school holidays a fortnight ago drew a crowd over 10,000. I thought that was reasonable as that game was held during the school holidays, and the last time 10,000 was cracked in a home and away game in Giants Stadium was for our derby against Sydney in 2019.

The Bulldogs are our most played opponents in Canberra, and they along with Norths and Melbourne, were the AFL teams that used to sell “home” games to Canberra before GWS was created. Bulldogs (along with Melbourne, Fremantle and Port) are one of the few teams that we have played more in Canberra than in Giants Stadium.

Our 6 games against the Bulldogs have averaged 9,782 - slightly less than our overall attendance in Canberra. We have only played 5 night games (defined as games starting after 1900) in Canberra so far, and they have had good attendances averaging 12,061.

Given that our lowest ever night game crowd in Canberra was 10,064, we should get around 11-12k for this match - especially after our great win yesterday and also as the Bulldogs are playing well.

FWIW 14,974 was our highest ever crowd in Manuka, and 6549 against Port our lowest ever crowd - the crowd for the Bulldogs game wont reach either of these extremes!

 

[Cmarsh]

Great that we are playing in Canberra this week when there is no NRL in Sydney. Really smart scheduling.

 

[Giant Strides]

Great that we are playing in Canberra this week when there is no NRL in Sydney. Really smart scheduling.

I guess the issue is that Giants Stadium is still being remediated after the Easter Show, which is a fixed schedule event. And GWS or AFL can't control NRL programming. (I can see there is one game in Sydney on that same day, albeit a 5.30pm start, plus Friday & Sunday games, so not really correct to say "no NRL in Sydney".) [EDIT: Incorrect statement.]

 

[Cmarsh]

I guess the issue is that Giants Stadium is still being remediated after the Easter Show, which is a fixed schedule event. And GWS or AFL can't control NRL programming. (I can see there is one game in Sydney on that same day, albeit a 5.30pm start, plus Friday & Sunday games, so not really correct to say "no NRL in Sydney".)

Not sure where you are looking but the NRL has moved all its games to Brisbane next week.

 

[Giant Strides]

Not sure where you are looking but the NRL has moved all its games to Brisbane next week.

Ah, OK, Magic Round is it? Yep, you're right, I didn't pick that up. GWS is still hamstrung by having to remediate the stadium after Easter Show.

 

[Cmarsh]

Ah, OK, Magic Round is it? Yep, you're right, I didn't pick that up. GWS is still hamstrung by having to remediate the stadium after Easter Show.

The easter show finished on 17th April. If it is still being packed up into next week than it seems the club tolerate the RAS moving very slow in its work.

 

[Giant Strides]

The easter show finished on 17th April. If it is still being packed up into next week than it seems the club tolerate the RAS moving very slow in its work.

I suspect the issue is actually remediating the playing surface. I do recall complaints in previous years about its condition in the first round afterwards. I'm not stating that as a fact, just observation from memory of past years.

 

[captainMyCaptain]

 

[Colonial]

So no games in Melbourne till the finals? VFL.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Eddie is a genius! …happy with GWS playing 11 home games in Giants Stadium and 11 home games in Manuka. Some clubs may not agree with this advantage, including Collingwood!

I think it will be a 8 Giants Stadium/ 3 Manuka split for the duration of the new 10 year agreement till 2032. If AFL is amenable, we may have Norths and Hawthorn selling their “home game” to Canberra against GWS. Hawthorn was looking at still playing a couple of home games in Launceston even after the entry of the Tasmanian team, including their game against Tasmania.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Kingsley supportive of a funding boost for Manuka, especially in light of the federal government’s Tasmanian stadium funding - the last major upgrade at Manuka was a decade ago.

“So the facilities, the grandstands, all that sort of stuff, if that ground can become bigger, and we can re-establish it as our fortress, I mean, that's clearly our aim, so we'd certainly be in favour of that."

Giants 'in favour' of Manuka Oval funding boost

"We want to get as big a crowd as we can."

www.canberratimes.com.au

 

[sydney_gws]

So no games in Melbourne till the finals? VFL.

This will obviously never happen ( 22 games in Sydney/ Canberra).

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Will be interesting to see the crowd for this night game in our other home ground. It’s forecast to be cloudy and temperatures expected to be around 6-8 degrees.

Our crowds have averaged 10,372 for the 31 home games we have played in Canberra - this is slightly more than the 10,208 we have averaged for the 82 games in Giants Stadium (which has hosted Derbies and 3 final matches).

Our 6 games against the Bulldogs have averaged 9,782 - slightly less than our overall attendance in Canberra. We have only played 5 night games (defined as games starting after 1900) in Canberra so far, and they have had good attendances averaging 12,061.

Given that our lowest ever night game crowd in Canberra was 10,064, we should get around 11-12k for this match - especially after our great win yesterday and also as the Bulldogs are playing well.

The crowd for the Saturday match was 10,039. Its slightly less than our average crowd for all games played in Manuka, but slightly more than our average crowd against the Bulldogs in Manuka. It’s our lowest attendance at a night Manuka game, but the cold wet night would not have helped.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Will be interesting to see our crowd for the match against Gold Coast on Sunday. The crowds for the Brisbane and Bulldogs games this year were both just over 10k, but doubt that we will hit that figure against Gold Coast, even if it’s our last home match in Manuka this season, and our boys are playing extremely well.

Our last Giant home match of the season in 2022, only drew a crowd of 7338 for the Fremantle match. Yes, it was the 4th game in Manuka to makeup for the 2 games in the Covid interrupted 2021, but it was the only occasion in our history, that the last home game for the year was played in Manuka, and not Giants Stadium.

We have played Gold Coast just three times in Canberra, and our crowds have been 8603 (when we had our historic first win!), 6832 and 6917. We haven’t played Gold Coast in Canberra since 2015.

More worrying is our current 9 game consecutive losing streak in Manuka - the longest consecutive losing streak in our history for any grounds, let alone for a home ground. But our boys are playing well and should break this unwanted streak by winning for the first time in Manuka since May 2019.

 

[Giant Strides]

Fellow late entrant Gold Coast isn't a large crowd puller: few travelling fans, and few transplanted fans. That's not a dig, it's just reality, and similar to us. So we don't get the benefit of fans coming out of the woodwork to see their team live for that once a year, as we do if it's a traditional team such as Richmond or Geelong. The core GWS fans from the capital will be there, but whether other Canberrans turn up "for a look" depends on several factors such as weather, timing etc. Hopefully with the win streak a few fans will travel down from Sydney for the game. The 1.10 pm timing should be good if the weather is forecast to be fine, as a Sunday afternoon in the sun watching sport can be very pleasant. Hopefully it's a decent crowd that turns up.