GIANT rivals

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PaythePerryman

Club Legend
Oct 13, 2020
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GWS
Who are the Giants top 5 rivals do you think? In terms of long term rivalry rather than just people we have beat/Beaten us
I'd probably have to go

Bulldogs
Swans
Pies
Richmond
????
 

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1. I think Swans as our enduring rivals
2. Bulldogs as our current bitter rivals (for what they did to us in 2016, and for their deplorable ill behaved rabid supporters).
3. our fellow expansion compatriots Gold Coast, as they get stronger under Hardwick.

As for the rest I think it would depend on what’s happening at the time. It’s Collingwood now (the 1 point loss in the PF and the Mason Cox jibe) but could change depending on and off field events.
 
Can’t hate the Mutts when Harmsey & Charlie Clarke are there.
 

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I think we have 3 big rivalries
1. Bulldogs
2. Swans
3. Collingwood

We have a kinda rivalry with Richmond.

I saw someone put Gold Coast as our rival, I see them as our kindred spirits.
I definitely agree re the pies. We&ve played them in a few big gmaes now and there is something building.

Re the suns, I think they have a bit of a chip about us as we have been more successful ... they are on the wrong end of a lot of comparisons by other fans and they don&t like it. They also carry on about how we got so much more tha they did
 
Can’t hate the Mutts when Harmsey & Charlie Clarke are there.
Yes You Can Fast And Furious GIF by The Fast Saga
 
Giants CEO Dave Matthews stokes the flames ahead of Opening Round clash

By LACHLAN MCKIRDY

CONTENT PRODUCER

NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA SPORTS NEWSROOM

17 FEBRUARY 2024

The Giants have stoked the flames ahead of their opening-round clash against Collingwood with CEO Dave Matthews claiming the hate is real for the side that knocked them out of the 2023 finals series.

GWS is no stranger to building a rivalry off the back of finals heartache. Their battles with the Western Bulldogs have been compulsory viewing ever since the visitors came away with a win in the 2016 preliminary final at Giants Stadium.

But the Pies could now be second on the list for the Giants after the one-point loss in last year’s preliminary final, and Mason Cox’s subsequent dig at their home ground.

“I mean we hate Collingwood almost as much as we hate the Swans,” Matthews said.

“I think we’ve been so hungry since losing that preliminary final by a point. The season couldn’t come around quickly enough after a result like that.

“We’re very pleased with our year last year overall but ultimately disappointed with the way it finished.

“So they’re the perfect opponent for us in the opening round. We think the game will sell out and we just want to see a packed Giants Stadium and get away with four points.”

Matthews is a huge fan of the new Opening Round concept and believes the new AFL administration led by Andrew Dillon has shown increased initiative in growing the sport in the northern states.

But he also understands the club has to capitalise on that momentum to create stronger crowds and an even larger interest in the Giants’ brand, with the game against Collingwood well on track to become their highest regular season crowd outside of Sydney Derbys.

“It’s one of the biggest home and away fixtures that the AFL has ever delivered to Sydney so we can’t wait for that opportunity,” Matthews said.

“I think you need to be winning to capture the imagination of people in Sydney and we’re clearly trying to build the game for the AFL through the vehicle of the Giants.

“Off the back of a couple of down years and the period during Covid, last year I think breathed new life into the Giants and I think in many ways we exceeded our own expectations, not just the expectations of the football world.

“It’s also part of the momentum that the AFL has created by Andrew Dillon and his team deciding on opening round. It was a bold decision, we’ve been waiting for a decision like that for a number of years and Andrew Dillon and his team have delivered.”

As a club, the Giants celebrated a new landmark membership record on Friday as they passed 25,000 members for the quickest time in their history.

That mark puts them only behind the Swans, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs for sporting memberships in Sydney. By the end of 2023, they had also surpassed the Rabbitohs’ figure.

Despite some claims online, the highly-publicised Kayo Digital GIANT Membership that includes 12-month access to the streaming service makes up far less than 1,000 of the total figure. The club has also already sold more full Giants Stadium reserved-seat memberships than it did by the end of 203.

Matthews says the goal for this year would be to surpass 35,000 members which could make the Swans and Giants the two largest membership bases in NSW despite being in rugby league heartland.

“(Sydney Swans chairman) Andrew Pridham I think said [the Swans want] 100,000 but they are 150 years old and they were a Melbourne side originally,” Matthews said.

“I think this year we’ll get close to 35,000. I think we’ll sell out the opening round and the game against the Swans. Games in Canberra are going to be at capacity.

“We play entertaining football. We play it in a stadium that is regarded as one of the best for fans in Australia.

“I think the feedback I’ve had a lot since last year’s finish is that if we’re not your first team, we’re probably your second team. So our challenge is to convert people who probably think we’re their second team into becoming their first team.”
 

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