Future of the Footy Club

[Colonial]

FYI it's six - two adults and four children.

Well there you go

 

[Sinnthesis]

Change the name to Western Sydney Giants.
Change the logo and jumper - A capital G on a guernsey is not that appealing.
Probably an unpopular opinion

 

[Colonial]

Change the name to Western Sydney Giants.
Change the logo and jumper - A capital G on a guernsey is not that appealing.
Probably an unpopular opinion

No, nothing wrong with the name. Works well
No, Logo is fine, big G works.
No. Unless it’s to make the Never Surrender kit the main kit then no.
Nothing wrong with the colours and kit. Though should of been Skyblue and Charcoal in my opinion but the Orange grew in me.

 

[Cameron_Jezza]

No, nothing wrong with the name. Works well
No, Logo is fine, big G works.
No. Unless it’s to make the Never Surrender kit the main kit then no.
Nothing wrong with the colours and kit. Though should of been Skyblue and Charcoal in my opinion but the Orange grew in me.

I went to luna park last week, saw about 6 giants caps, no swans merchandise. Maybe a small sample but it had me thinking that more merchandise given out to schools can only help.
Less long lunches for Gil and company, more spent on marketing.

 

[Colonial]

I went to luna park last week, saw about 6 giants caps, no swans merchandise. Maybe a small sample but it had me thinking that more merchandise given out to schools can only help.
Less long lunches for Gil and company, more spent on marketing.

The problem isn’t the clubs colours, name or even our ground (which has the best public transport options in the state and a good pub for a feed, plus a meh one).
Problem is they plonked us here thinking that’s all it will take and worked on the grassroots and community.
No, or barely any, advertising.

Edit. Add the costs of going to a game and membership, sorry but having freebies sent out later in the week due to low sales or through social media doesn’t help, for a working class region and I can see why we struggle.

 

[Sime11]

One area I would like to see more clarity is the discrepancy between membership numbers and crowd numbers.

We claim about 30,000 members, but the average crowds at Homebush and Manuka pre-COVID were just over 10,000. Why such a large discrepancy? Giants Stadium has a capacity of 24,000, but hasn't sold out once. Where are all these members?

I swear they would count Pet memberships in that figure as well - the membership numbers are always inflated.

if they gave the real membership numbers (those that turn up constantly) it wouldnt make for very good reading and VFL media would dine out on it for as long as they want.

WS Wanderers at it's peak was 20k memberships and peeps had to go onto a waiting list etc - these days no one knows the membership figures and attendances are dwindling more and more due to consistent poor performance on the field, direction of the club and lack of engagement with members/fans.

Interesting Question I pose - What is the Giants identity and what should it be?

 

[dlanod]

I swear they would count Pet memberships in that figure as well - the membership numbers are always inflated.

if they gave the real membership numbers (those that turn up constantly) it wouldnt make for very good reading and VFL media would dine out on it for as long as they want.

I'm pretty sure that pet memberships don't count, but your overall point is true of every single club. Our's wouldn't be great - I'd imagine we're probably at 5k Sydney members and maybe 10-15k Canberra members based off crowd figures and seating - but the AFL sets how memberships are counted, precisely because it's in their interest for those numbers of be as large as possible.

 

[Andre the Giant]

Change the name to Western Sydney Giants.
Change the logo and jumper - A capital G on a guernsey is not that appealing.
Probably an unpopular opinion

Stop playing “Never Tear Us Apart” before every game, it’s a bogan stunt and cringeworthy.

Probably an unpopular opinion.

 

[Sinnthesis]

Stop playing “Never Tear Us Apart” before every game, it’s a bogan stunt and cringeworthy.

Probably an unpopular opinion.

What does that have to do with the topic of discussion?

 

[Colonial]

What does that have to do with the topic of discussion?

You basically stated that everything has to be changed, name, colours, kit etc etc.

Thought he responded well, I would of gone down the path of making fun of “power” as a name personally.

This thread is about improving our club moving forward.
Not throwing everything out and starting again.

 

[Sinnthesis]

You basically stated that everything has to be changed, name, colours, kit etc etc.

Thought he responded well, I would of gone down the path of making fun of “power” as a name personally.

This thread is about improving our club moving forward.
Not throwing everything out and starting again.

Fair enough, I thought they were improvements but obviously its not been well received by posters here.

 

[Colonial]

Fair enough, I thought they were improvements but obviously its not been well received by posters here.

About as well as telling Port to start over ditching names and colours.

It wasn’t trying to be helpful or offering improvements you were taking shots. There is a difference.

 

[Sinnthesis]

About as well as telling Port to start over ditching names and colours.

It wasn’t trying to be helpful or offering improvements you were taking shots. There is a difference.

um no i wasn't, just offering my opinion. I'll steer clear if you want to make things personal

 

[steviewonder36]

I've completed warmed to the idea of private ownership. I think now more than ever we're in need of it.

We need private ownership to come in and help the club grow - internally and externally. I think there's still a lot to be desired from a game day experience. We're 10 years in and while our membership base has grown, we're still failing to fill up our own stadium and attracting new visitors on game day year-to-year.

The Sydney market has always been a tough one to crack for sports, so there's no formula for success that can be copied. But even as we stand today, free tickets are given out throughout the year and it's still not enough to get people to the game.

Private ownership doesn't work in the AFL.

This is not the solution to the Giants on field woes at all.

We had a chance mid last decade to win a premiership with team built from the foundations, but it didn't happen.

We are years away from challenging again, and with players constantly leaving, it makes it even harder.

 

[Colonial]

um no i wasn't, just offering my opinion. I'll steer clear if you want to make things personal

Not personal at all but let’s not be ridiculous. Clubs going through a tough time don’t throw out everything that makes them them.

 

[Colonial]

Private ownership didn’t in the past work in the AFL.

But it’s possible it can.

 

[Sinnthesis]

aNot personal at all but let’s not be ridiculous. Clubs going through a tough time don’t throw out everything that makes them them.

I think a rebranding could be beneficial is all. Similar to Port Adelaide and Fremantle, the new Freo logo and jumper is much better than the original. I think Greater Western Sydney could do similar. The colours and nickname are good, but i just think the name is a little long,

 

[Colonial]

I think a rebranding could be beneficial is all. Similar to Port Adelaide and Fremantle, the new Freo logo and jumper is much better than the original. I think Greater Western Sydney could do similar. The colours and nickname are good, but i just think the name is a little long,

i seriously doubt that when port was going through its Tarp stage that if and when your fans discussed how to change the tide, you would of accepted opposition fans coming in and say “change the name from Port. Ditch the colours”

No you would of responded that throwing things out that makes our club unique isn’t what this is about.

Our colours and name aren’t up for debate. Logo is fine to. Changing it won’t change our board into a talented bunch who can drive us forward.

 

[Sinnthesis]

i seriously doubt that when port was going through its Tarp stage that if and when your fans discussed how to change the tide, you would of accepted opposition fans coming in and say “change the name from Port. Ditch the colours”

Plenty of fans want to ditch the teal and wear the bars in the AFL.

 

[dlanod]

Plenty of fans want to ditch the teal and wear the bars in the AFL.

If you can't see the difference between reverting to tradition, i.e. what the local club has worn for 100 years or so, and change for change's sake that aren't going to make a difference, i.e. the exact opposite, you've got very odd sensibilities.

 

[Sinnthesis]

If you can't see the difference between reverting to tradition, i.e. what the local club has worn for 100 years or so, and change for change's sake that aren't going to make a difference, i.e. the exact opposite, you've got very odd sensibilities

Ofcourse, i can see the difference.
Are posters not allowed to have different opinions regarding branding in here or something?

 

[Giant Strides]

Ofcourse, i can see the difference.
Are posters not allowed to have different opinions regarding branding in here or something?

Yes, you may have a different opinion.

But other posters - especially the home board posters - may dislike that opinion and express their view too.

Free speech (within reason) for all!!

 

[dlanod]

Ofcourse, i can see the difference.

Then why raise it as a relevant counter-example?

Are posters not allowed to have different opinions regarding branding in here or something?

I thought you were looking for GWS supporters' opinions on your suggestions? When we've expressed them, you've gotten defensive because we disagree with your opinion. So were you actually looking for opinions, or were you just looking for validation?

 

[ClockworkOrange]

A few observations on membership vs attendance, CEO performance, VFL HQ and Giants branding.

As far as I can ascertain, the CEO has a contractual goal to maximise membership as this is the common measure to compare clubs in the AFL. So it makes personal financial sense for the CEO to prioritise pet memberships over match attendance - even though that is not in the financial interest of the club.

VFL HQ then say, well, CEO you tell me you’re growing the membership so we don’t need to invest in advertising as you’ve told me your awesome at growing the game in NSW/ACT.

The gap between membership and attendance gets explained away by ‘people in Sydney are busy, it clashed with event X, the weather forecast’ so it always gets fudged away.

It’s a fiction that suits both the CEO and VFL HQ.

Now a new private owner would say “how many customers at the game? How do we improve the food? How do we reduce parking costs to increase the crowd (hint: use the Show facilities beside the ground, not P1)? Which jersey sells to members, let’s play in that one?

They would care about real $$ and growth, not dodgy VFL HQ membership stats.

Now as I generally just vent in 2022, I will give the CEO one positive point to conclude.

It is legitimately hard to brand a football club whose supporters span everywhere across NSW (ex Tamarama and Double Bay) and ACT.

I think one clear positive is that the brand Giants is recognised in Australia as uniquely NSW/ACT AFL.

The most successful sporting clubs in the world tend to have their name short handed to one word - Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Gunners, United, City, Rangers, Celtic - to maximise their geographic appeal.

I do think that has worked reasonably well.


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[Gigantic]

Private ownership doesn't work in the AFL.

This is not the solution to the Giants on field woes at all.

We had a chance mid last decade to win a premiership with team built from the foundations, but it didn't happen.

We are years away from challenging again, and with players constantly leaving, it makes it even harder.

Based on what? Brisbane and Sydney's attempts in the 90s?

The business environment is much different today than it was back then.

I don't think private ownership has anything to do with onfield performance. I see the main benefit of private ownership going towards off-field initiatives, particularly around funding. Under a private ownership model we can start to break away from the AFL's funding model and start to tap into traditional private equity funding and the like, which has its benefits over the existing AFL funding structure. There will be greater flexibility to drive funds towards certain departments or areas of the football club through greater access to capital.

One area we are behind in is coaching personnel, and we were evidently greatly affected by football department cuts. This is one area of the football club that could directly benefit from private ownership.